A pensioner has been turned away from a GP for being “already dead”, despite being very much alive.
Alan Rocket, 69, had been attempting to re-register at his former doctor’s surgery when he was informed by staff that he was “deceased”.
Reception staff refused to hand over Mr Rocket’s medical data, forcing the retired decorator to go home and fetch his passport as a proof of identity.
Mr Rocket, who is in remission from bowel cancer, said his experience at the Shenley Green practice in Birmingham had been distressing. He told The Sun: “It was really upsetting. Five years ago this month, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
“I’m in remission now but I’m still not 100 per cent clear. So to be told I was dead completely stressed me out. I told my daughters and they were upset too. I wasn’t getting anywhere so I got my ID and came back and said, ‘Here you go, I’m alive.’”
‘Technical issue’
Mr Rocket added that employees had “smirked” at him while they delivered the news of his earlier death.
Despite delivering his identity documents, Mr Rocket was reportedly unable to register at the practice for another 24 hours. A spokesman for the surgery told The Sun that there was a “technical issue” with the patient records and apologised for any inconvenience caused.
Earlier this year, another elderly cancer patient was left unable to access his medical records or reorder his medication after being registered as dead on the NHS computer system.
John Ashcroft, 73, who is in remission from prostate cancer, received a call from his local GP telling him he was deceased in late July.
GPs working fewer hours
It comes after a study revealed GPs are working an average of 26 hours a week.
The contracted hours fulfilled by each fully qualified GP has fallen from 30 a week on average in 2016, to 26 a week in 2022, according to new analysis of NHS data.
Dr Rosa Parisi, the study’s lead author from the University of Manchester, which conducted the research, suggested that GPs may be working less because they were “likely to be unwilling or unable to face more of the intense day-to-day pressures”.