GPs 'pick up tab' for private screening errors.

Screening - False positives from private screening facilities drives rise in patients seeking reassurance from GPs.

GPs are having to deal with an increasing number of patients presenting with false positive results picked up by private health screening, a leading GP has warned.

Speaking at a debate on health screening in central London this month, Dr Keith Hopcroft, a GP in Basildon, Essex said that the NHS was picking up the tab for private companies offering whole body CT scans.

'You have a one-in-three chance of a false positive result if you have a full body CT scan. There is also a one in 20 chance that the scan will miss signs of disease.' …