Our work focused on duplicate patient registrations or deceased individuals not removed from patient lists on a timely basis. 

We engaged with NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) to carry out a data matching pilot exercise on General Practitioner (GP) practice patient lists. Our main aim was to detect any evidence of potential fraud and/or error. However, we also wanted to identify ways in which NHS Wales might need to improve its own processes around GP patient lists.

The way GP practices are paid is complex, but the number of patients registered at a practice is at the heart of it. This payment mechanism has an inherent fraud risk. Appropriate checks and balances on the accuracy of GP patient lists can help manage this risk.

As well as ensuring GP practices receive the correct funding, accurate patient lists support the wider management of primary care. They also help ensure the NHS provides timely access for services such as screening; preventing issues like patients who should not be registered blocking appointment invitations.

We did not identify any immediate evidence of potential fraud in the areas covered by our work. We did, however, find a small number of errors. More specifically: 

• We identified a relatively small number of duplicate patient registrations; 140 to date but with 395 potential matches still under investigation.
•  Only a very small number of deceased individuals – 15 – remained on GP patient lists, but some had been left on those lists for a long time. 
• The duplicate and deceased patient records identified mean that GP funding has been allocated inaccurately, but the sum involved is low. 

Our results suggest patient list inflation controls in the areas covered by the exercise are generally sound. Nevertheless, NWSSP is working to enhance its overall central controls. There have also been recent wider IT system changes that cover England, Wales, and the Isle of Man.