PATIENT records have arrived at a doctors’ surgeries ‘half eaten’ by rodents, it is claimed.

GP leaders have warned the system of delivering records is in ‘total disarray’ with some going missing and delays in transferring them as well as problems processing newly qualified GP applications.

Now two East Lancashire MPs have raised concerns about the issue which is said to be leading to an increased workload and disruption for doctors.

It comes after primary care support services were outsourced to Capita last year.

The company said it moves around 100,000 files a week from multiple sites including GP surgeries and also third party run storage facilities which are contracted and managed by NHS England.

Burnley MP Julie Cooper said she was contacted by one practice in the town after records were delivered ‘half eaten by rodents’.

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Government ministers are now investigating the issues with Capita warned compensation is an option.

Mrs Cooper said: “Capita were employed to make sure the documents arrived safely. It is a national problem. Thousands of records have gone missing and some have been deleted.

“Doctors are saying they are seeing patients without access to the records. There are patient safety and confidentiality issues.

“The government has admitted they will have to employ experts to try and sort out this mess.

“On all fronts it has been highly inefficient.

“I have had examples from Burnley and Blackburn of hundreds of records coming in altogether and they are overwhelmed. They have had to employ staff to deal with it.

“The records are getting damaged and GPs have enough to deal with.”

Describing them as ‘precious documents’, the shadow community health minister said patient records should be treated with respect and handled securely.

A British Medical Association survey found out of 281 GP practices questioned across England close to three out of 10 practices reported they failed to receive or have records collected from them on the agreed date.

GP David Wrigley, the British Medical Association’s Lancashire representative, said the system was in ‘total disarray’.

He said: “Practices have been waiting weeks on end for records to arrive. It is affecting patient care.

“A lot of stuff is electronic but we still rely on paper for some things.

“This contract has turned out to be a catastrophe. The NHS was running a very good service before.

“We used to be able to request records quickly but now it is all done through ringing a call centre.

“It has been a total shambles from a GP point of view.”

Blackburn MP Kate Hollern said the town’s GPs were increasingly concerned about their workloads becoming unmanageable and having less time to care for patients.

She said: “During a recent House of Commons debate the performance of Capita was called into question.

“GPs in Blackburn tell me, the truth is the role of Capita has led to confusion, significant delays in the delivery of medical records for patients who have moved from other practices and a failure to keep the National Performers List up to date resulting in delays in employing much needed GPs.”

Patient champion Russ McLean, chairman of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said that the issue of patient records had been a ‘debacle’.

He said: “Personal records are going missing in their thousands and I do not remember a consultation with patients on Capita having access to personal records.

“GPs nationally are on the verge of a meltdown. I am not surprised records are showing up in this state. I’m shocked and horrified, but not surprised.”

A Capita spokeswoman said it had taken on a service which was highly localised with unstandardised, generally unmeasured and in some cases, non compliant processes.

She said: “We have taken on this challenging initiative and we have openly apologised for the varied level of service experienced by some users as these services were transitioned and are being transformed. We do not recognise any claim made regarding files being missing whatsoever and our continued priority is to ensure that all applicants are included on the performers list as quickly as possible.

“Medical records are now being delivered securely up to three times faster than under the previous system.”

An NHS England spokeswoman said: “We know there have been serious issues with services delivered by Capita which have had an unacceptable impact on practices.

"We have always been clear that it is critical for the service to enable GPs to focus on patient care and required Capita to at least maintain the previous service and quality levels, sadly this has not happened.

"We are now working more closely with Capita to ensure that urgent  improvements are made."