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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Thousands of patients in England at risk as GP referrals vanish into NHS ‘black hole’

NHS Healthwatch England GPS Rachel Power DHSC
Staff on a NHS hospital ward.
Survey by NHS’s patient watchdog found that 75% of patients whose referrals were lost, rejected or delayed suffered more health problems as a result. Photograph: sturti/Getty Images

One in seven people in England who need hospital care are not receiving it because their GP referral is lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s patient watchdog has found.

Three-quarters (75%) of those trapped in this “referrals black hole” suffer harm to their physical or mental health as a result of not being added to the waiting list for tests or treatment.

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