An elderly cancer patient has told of his shock after receiving a call from his local GP informing him he had been wrongly recorded as dead.
In late July, doctors informed John Ashcroft that his system had reported him as “deceased” even though “it was pretty obvious” that he was alive.
The 73-year-old, who is in remission from prostate cancer, tried to access his hospital records but he and his wife Susan were left “bewildered” to find they had been denied access because “he didn’t exist”.
All of her medical records and appointments had disappeared, meaning she had been unable to reorder her medication.
The worried couple – who admitted they found the situation extremely “disconcerting” – were forced to wait two weeks for their medical records to be restored.
In late July, doctors informed John Ashcroft (pictured) that his system had reported him as “deceased” even though he was “obviously” alive.
The 73-year-old (right), who is in remission from prostate cancer, tried to access his hospital records but he and his wife Susan (left) were left “bewildered” to find they had been denied access because “he didn’t exist”.
Mr Ashcroft and his wife still do not know how the mistake occurred and are now concerned that other organisations may mark him as deceased.
The former NHS worker recalled: ‘I got a phone call on Monday, a fortnight ago, telling me I had been given up for dead.
‘It was an IT guy calling to see if I was dead or not.
-He clearly said no, because you are talking to me.
“The guy said everything would be resolved in three hours and then, fifteen days later, it still hadn’t been resolved.”
The former NHS worker is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer and was “shocked” by what he was told over the phone.
“Because of the cancer I had, I had direct access to my notes and Sue went through them and there was nothing there,” she said.
His wife, Mrs Ashcroft, added: “We were unable to log in.
‘It said it didn’t exist, so I couldn’t log into the medication and I started to panic a little because John was running out of medication.
‘Everything fell apart last week when we went to ask for the medication and they told us we couldn’t order it.’
The cancer patient was told that he was “no longer a patient” and could not ask for medication.
The couple took the matter to the director of their local GP practice. They were registered at Island City Practice in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Ashcroft said his wife, who worked for technology company IBM for 20 years, stepped in and tried to resolve the incident.
“I have to say that Sue has done all the background work that I wouldn’t be able to do,” he said.
The 70-year-old has contacted Primary Care Support England (PCSE), his local MP and other organisations to urge them to correct the error.
After a two-week wait, Mr Ashcroft’s medical records were reinstated and he was declared alive again by his GP.
The couple were registered at Island City Practice (also known as Lake Road Health Centre in Portsmouth, Hampshire).
But Grandpa is still worried about where else he might be registered as “deceased.”
“We don’t know how far this has gone; I don’t think we ever will,” he said.
Mrs Ashcroft added: “We found out about it on July 22, but how long had it been before it happened?”
Although his medical problems have now been resolved, Mr Ashcroft is concerned that his pension and passport have been affected, particularly as he and his wife are travelling to Morocco in North Africa in September.
“We have booked a holiday in September and I don’t know if my passport is still valid. We are confused,” she added.
The husband said it would probably be a matter of showing up at the airport and seeing what happens at border control.
They said the issue has weighed heavily on them in recent weeks.
“It’s been stressful, very stressful and very upsetting,” Ashcroft said.
‘We both cried a lot, and that’s really all I can say.
“We can joke about it, our sense of humour means we can, but underneath…”
‘(Our family) has been very supportive of us.’
The couple share five children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Mrs Ashcroft added: ‘They just didn’t believe what we were telling them because they couldn’t even imagine it, they couldn’t make it up.
‘We always played pranks and jokes on our grandchildren and they just thought it was a joke.’
Now, the couple is searching for answers.
Mrs Ashcroft, who was born in Yorkshire, continued: “We are at a loss because we do not want to punish the person who did everything harshly.”
‘We want them to investigate, to find out in which part of the country it happened so that lessons can be learned.
“We don’t know if a death was reported, if that was correct or if someone went into the system and chose the wrong name.”
Her husband added: ‘John Ashcroft is not an uncommon name.
“But a John Ashcroft for my direction would be impossible.”
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of an issue relating to a civil death record being incorrectly recorded in a patient’s medical record.
‘This was removed within three hours of being reported to us and the patient was re-registered by his GP.
‘We extend our apologies to the patient involved and encourage him to contact us directly so we can explain in more detail.’