THE “shambolic” outsourcing of NHS back-office tasks to Capita may have “put patients at risk of serious harm,” MPs warned today.

The Commons public accounts committee (PAC) released a scathing report on NHS England’s decision to hand Capita a seven-year contract for primary care support services that was meant to reduce costs by 35 per cent. 

But because of the disruption, thousands of GPs, dentists and opticians were delayed in treating patients.

Bosses claimed the contract would “modernise” back-office work. The report shows that Capita largely failed to do so.

Doctors reported consistent problems with the transfer of medical documents, meaning that patients may not have had access to care.

And once initial problems came to light, not enough was done to stop the issues getting worse, the report found.

It described how delays in moving medical records from one practice to another meant patients may not have been able to access necessary care.

Some 87 women were incorrectly notified that they were no longer part of the cervical screening programme.

The NHS supply chain also suffered massive disruption through regular but unpredictable shortages.

And the company showed little interest in solving problems, with the committee accusing NHS England of “maximising financial savings” at the “expense of service quality.”

PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier branded the situation a “complete mess.”

She said: “It is clearly unacceptable that poor procurement should put patients at risk of harm and undermine the ability of GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacists to do their jobs.

“NHS England needs to rethink its approach to outsourcing and invest time in getting its contracts right.”

A Capita spokesman said: “Capita has apologised for unacceptable failings in relation to the initial delivery of this contract.”