UK government to ask GPs to do minor operations

LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) Britain's general practitioners could soon be performing minor operations under government proposals to ease waiting times in hospitals.

Demonstration schemes have already been implemented across the country that could be the forerunner to one of the biggest shifts in healthcare since the National Health Service (NHS) was founded in 1948.

''These 30 pilots are all operational now and benefiting patients,'' Health Minister Norman Warner said in a statement.

''What we want to do now is evaluate them, learn from them and see how we can go to scale across the NHS to benefit far more people.'' Warner said the rationale was to try to provide care closer to people's homes, which might require GPs to expand their skills.

''In some areas, this will involve making sure there are GPs who are as skilled with the scalpel as they are with the stethoscope.'' The pilot schemes will look into the feasibility of moving care from hospitals towards community-based centres in six speciality areas -- urology; ear, nose and throat; dermatology; orthopaedics; gynaecology and general surgery.

Professor Carol Black, chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said the pilot schemes could lead to a new way of running the health service.

''The projects represent an important step towards removing outdated barriers that have often separated primary and secondary care,'' she said in a statement.

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