Recommendation 6

Missing or inaccurate telephone numbers in NHS patient records undermined government’s efforts to contact 375,000 people. The contact centre relied on telephone numbers in NHS patient records when calling people to check their needs. Over 20% of the 1.8 million telephone numbers passed to the contact centre from NHS records, for roughly 375,000 people, were missing or found to be incorrect, with the consequence that when the contact centre needed to rely on phone numbers too many were not right and so people could not be contacted to check they were well and getting what they needed. DHSC argues that NHS records are only as good as the information patients provide and explains that its preference is to contact people by letter first, as addresses are the highest-quality contact records. DHSC notes that it also relies on GPs to make sure that the necessary contact is made with clinically extremely vulnerable people. DHSC is trying to improve contact information by asking those affected to ensure their GP records are up to date. Recommendation: DHSC and NHS Digital should ensure that different NHS bodies can securely source the most up to date, reliable and complete patient records, including contact details. It should update the Committee on its plan to achieve this progress within six months. 8 Covid 19: supporting the vulnerable during lockdown 1 Identifying and supporting vulnerable people