An NHS England (NHSE) review revealed that some patients at GP practices may have been affected by incomplete registrations, preventing them from receiving invitations to NHS screening programmes such as cervical, breast, bowel cancer, and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screenings. However, this does not include diabetic eye screening or antenatal or newborn screening programmes.

NHSE is taking corrective action, and NCL ICB is asking for practices to assist in resolving these issues and prevent similar occurrences in future.

The impact of incomplete registrations

• Patients’ records remain 'in-flight' and do not transfer to NHS screening IT systems. As a result, these patients have not been invited for their screening appointments.

 Actions taken by NHSE

• Affected patients were identified, and letters were sent on Monday 10 March with information on accessing screening. This includes those patients that are now above the eligible screening age.
• These patients will now be added to NHS screening IT systems.
• Introduction of a general public helpline 0345 877 8962 and clinician support email England.Inflight-GP-Registrations@nhs.net have been set up.

What practices need to do

• Practices are urged to ensure all patient registrations are completed and eligible patients are invited for NHS screening without further delay.
• Be prepared to respond to patient queries about missing screening invitations and ensure your practice support timely screening appointments, especially for cervical screening requests. This includes offering cervical screening to women who are no longer eligible but wish to be screened.
• Ensure administrative staff are aware of the issue and know how to handle patient queries regarding missed invitations. Staff should be provided with the Q&A screening invitation and GP registration process. 
• Complete any outstanding patient registrations.
• Act on PCSE registration requests quickly to prevent future issues.

Ongoing monitoring and next steps

• GP practices must take responsibility for ensuring registrations are fully completed.
• NHSE is implementing monitoring mechanisms to prevent recurrence.
• Future updates will be provided regarding system changes to improve registration processes.

 For additional support and questions, contact the NCL ICB Primary Care team
e: nclicb.nclprimarycare@nhs.net