Patients are not being deregistered from their GP practices in the Rochdale borough

Dr Chris Duffy, NHS HMR CCG Chair and local GP

It was reported in the national press this week that patients were being de-listed from their GP surgeries, due to a lack of staff.

Doctors had warned that a recruitment crisis in the NHS had left surgeries without enough staff to handle the current amount of patients.

The press reported specifically about a case in Watton, Norfolk in which 1,500 patients were deregistered from their practice.

However, this is not the case in the Rochdale borough.

Dr Chris Duffy, local GP and chairman of NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (HMR CCG), said: “Nationally, it is very unusual for patients to be deregistered from their GP practice, and only it is a very last resort. We have no reason to believe that this is a relevant issue locally.

“We are working hard with practices in the Rochdale borough to ensure no patient misses out on care.”