General practitioners as providers of minor surgery--a success story?

It is now recognized that many minor surgical procedures can be appropriately performed in a general practitioner setting; the government has introduced a list of minor operations, for which it is prepared to pay a limited fee, and it is now time to see whether this service can be expanded.

To demonstrate that a group of general practitioners (GPs) with a particular interest in minor surgery can offer an expanded service both to their own patients and also to the patients of neighbouring colleagues, whether fundholding or non-fundholding, within a health authority area.

The West Kent Health Authority awarded a contract for 500 minor operations to a group practice of five GPs. At the end of the first year, 511 operations had been performed, and the results and implications are discussed.

The target of 500 minor operations was met and passed in the first year. Thirty-five neighbouring GPs referred their patients directly. All were offered an initial appointment within one week and had their operation performed within one month, unless they had expressed a preference for an alternative date. Several unsuspected malignancies were discovered-no complications were recorded, patients' and referring doctors' satisfaction was high and the scheme was judged to have been a success in their eyes.

GPs can provide an efficient, cost-effective minor surgery service, which is popular with patients and referring colleagues. Whether this is the way we wish to organize minor surgery in the future needs further discussion.