'Ghost patients' cost the NHS £650 million each year
These "ghost patients" are likely due to outdated GP records, often not accounting for deaths or residents moving elsewhere
Around five million 'ghost patients' are registered with GP surgeries in England, wasting millions of pounds of NHS funding.
Listen to this article
According to NHS figures, 63.4 million patients are registered with GP practices in England - 4.8 million higher than the population - costing around £650million extra per year.
Practices currently receive around £130 per year for every patient registered, on top of payment for seeing or treating cases.
This means practices are receiving about £650m extra per year for almost five million patients who do not exist - with the current population of England actually sitting at 58.6 million, rather than the 63.4 million that records suggest.
These "ghost patients" are likely due to outdated GP records, often not accounting for deaths or residents moving elsewhere.
Stuart Andrew, the shadow health secretary, said paper records, outdated computers and "fragmented systems" were all contributing factors to the NHS' administrative issues.
“Waste needs to be cut in the NHS, but that will be increasingly difficult without the technology to bear down on unnecessary administration. Ghost patients are exactly the kind of problem that follows.
Read more: Starmer faces ultimatum: Quit by Tuesday or be humiliated
Read more: At least 30 deaths at Congo camp suggest Ebola could be spreading fast
“Until that happens, hundreds of millions of pounds will keep flowing out of the door to no one.”
Despite this, the British Medical Association (BMA) claims efforts to update the lists have been too aggressive, causing some patients to be removed in error during "list cleansing" - a routine data audit in which letters are sent to suspected ghost patients asking if they still wish to be registered.
They said many practices had removed genuine patients in error, and subsequently have been forced to put them back on their lists.
Patients who failed to respond to the letters and other contact attempts may have missed important reminders for screenings and vaccinations, they added.
In total, lists fell by around 300,000 patients in 2025, depriving practices of around £40m funding, according to the union.
The BMA was unable to say how many patients had been removed in error.