I would like to inform the House that yesterday, 10 March 2025, the NHS wrote to around 5,261 people who have not been invited for routine screening. This is because their general practice registration process was not completed correctly, meaning that their details were not passed to NHS screening systems. Those affected have now been added into relevant screening programmes and work is ongoing to ensure that this does not occur in the future.
The letters were posted to affected patients who are still eligible for a screening programme, or who were previously eligible for a screening programme but now exceed the programme’s upper age limit. The letter will explain what has happened and next steps, including details of the helpline that has been set up by NHS England.
Records indicate that up to 10 patients have been diagnosed with a relevant cancer and were not invited for certain screening. NHS England is writing to these patients this week. The impact on these patients is not yet known and a clinical harm assessment process will be undertaken, based on expert clinical advice. It is with deep sadness that I must report that records also indicate that around 10 people who were not invited for screening may have died from a relevant cancer. NHS England will take appropriate action in these circumstances, based on expert clinical advice.
In the summer of 2024, a small number of people contacted NHS England to say they had not been invited for screening. NHS England commissioned further investigation, which led to an issue within GP registration being identified in late December. This issue, which has continued since 2008, affected the bowel, breast and cervical cancer screening programmes, as well as abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. It did not affect the diabetic eye screening programme, or any of the antenatal or newborn screening programmes. Since then, work has been undertaken to identify the individuals affected. Where relevant, work is ongoing to assess any clinical implications of their delayed screening.
The specific problem relates to when a patient registers at a new GP practice. GP registrations returned to some GP practices by Primary Care Support England for further information or review had not been completed, or the GP practice had not sent a message to complete the patient’s registration. Incomplete registrations were not passed to the NHS screening programme IT systems and, therefore, some people had not been invited to their routine screening. Processes have been put in place to make sure that new GP registrations will be closely monitored and updated on systems as necessary.
I would like to assure the House that we will provide regular updates as we offer support to affected patients, and I would like to thank NHS staff who have worked to understand and deal with this issue.
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