In line with NHS England procedures, if a letter sent directly to a patient is returned to PCSE, or PCSE is notified by a screening administration service that a letter has been returned indicating the addressee is no longer at the address, PCSE is required to raise an FP69 flag on the PDS system.
This will update the patients record in the GP practice’s clinical system. Practices should then check the address directly with the patient, and update the address on the clinical system or send confirmation to PCSE the current address is correct.
If PCSE don’t receive confirmation from the practice (via GP links) the patient is either still at the address or at a new address within 6 months, FP69 flags raised before 1 October 2025 and within 3 months for any raised on or after 1 October 2025, the patient will then be removed from the GP’s patient list. Should the letter be returned to us as ‘moved abroad’ or ‘deceased’ the appropriate action would be taken to deduct the patient from PDS.
If you have any further queries you can email the PCSE Registrations team at pcse.registrations-preston@nhs.net
