Grahame Morris MP is one of a group of MPs who have signed a letter to Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, questioning the efficiency of the current system for reporting deaths in the UK amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

As it stands, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) requires that GPs register patient deaths with them.

The letter posits that, as deaths are registered with the official registrar, to which the CQC has access, the requirement for GPs to report patient deaths to the CQC is unnecessary.

GPs are already under immense pressure as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, and the CQC’s system of reporting deaths only serves to increase that pressure.

Furthermore, information on patient deaths provided to the CQC by GPs can prove to be inaccurate, owing to the fact that GPs are not always promptly informed of patient deaths. There have been instances wherein a patient has died in hospital, but the hospital has not notified the patient’s GP of this. In these cases, GPs are only made aware of a patient’s death when a family member attends the surgery.

Grahame Morris MP said, “At a time when GPs are already overstretched, the CQC’s requirement that they report patient deaths to them is unnecessary. In signing this letter, I urge the CQC to consider the effectiveness of the current system, and alleviate the burden on GPs.”