We have saved the NHS £1.5m on operations, say GPs

Surgeons at the N2S unit at the GP practice in Norwich carry out nearly 4,400 procedures a year, helping to reduce hospital waiting lists

A GP practice that has set up two operating theatres has helped to save the NHS £1.5m a year while cutting hospital waiting lists, its bosses have said.

St Stephen's Gate Medical Practice in Norwich city centre has been carrying out almost 4,400 surgical procedures a year at its N2S Norwich and Norfolk Day Surgery Unit.

Patient Andrew Downes, from Burston near Diss, Norfolk, had his hernia repaired on Wednesday and said he was "glad to get it done" so quickly.

N2S medical director Dr Alex Baker said if the unit was copied across the country it could help the new Labour government achieve its NHS targets and "make a huge difference".

Patient Andrew Downes hoped he would be able to take trips out on his custom-built trike following his hernia repair

Consultants operate the unit, where they undertake hernia operations, hand surgery, cataract procedures and laser procedures on patients who go home the same day.

Mr Downes, 81, has been one of hundreds of people this year to have his hernia operated on under local anaesthetic at the NHS site following the required referral to specialists.

The current waiting time at N2S for a hernia operation - which is done via open surgery, leaving a small scar, as opposed to in a keyhole procedure - is 12 weeks.

At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, nearly 7,500 people were on the waiting list to start general surgery - including hernias - as of April.

Just over 50% of patients were treated within 18 weeks, but the standard is supposed to be 92%.

St Stephen's Gate Medical Practice undertakes hernia operations

Mr Downes said that although he had chosen to delay his operation until his wife's health had improved, he had then plumped for the unit to get it done quicker.

"I’d rather have it done quickly at a practice like N2S than wait umpteen months to have it done at a hospital," he said.

"If I was waiting for the hospital, who knows how long I’d wait? It could be months, years even, so I’m not complaining.

"It makes no difference to me where it’s done - they’ve been vetted and inspected and are obviously the standard required to do it."

Patients at the day unit receive only local anaesthetics - meaning they are awake for operations

NHS England said it believed the practice was one of only a few carrying out hernia operations.

The national body has been looking at ways to improve health services, and in October 2023 it said up to 400,000 patients waiting more than 40 weeks could travel to a different hospital to be seen sooner.

However, many people may feel unable to travel, particularly without support networks.

Managers at St Stephen's Gate said its hernia cases, subject of a recent peer-reviewed research paper, meant local hospital theatres could be used for more complex operations, thereby cutting waiting lists.

The unit, which has been undertaking surgical procedures for seven years, has been relieving pressure on three hospitals: Norfolk and Norwich, Queen Elizabeth in King's Lynn and James Paget in Gorleston.

Dr Alex Baker, GP partner and N2S medical director, said local hospitals can concentrate on more complicated surgery and looking after patients for long stays

In its manifesto, Labour said it would deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans and appointments a week - two million a year - in England by introducing more weekend services, as well as turning to the private sector.

Dr Alex Baker, who is also a GP partner at St Stephen's Gate, said they had worked with local hospitals, commissioners and consultants to "find solutions to improve the long waiting times".

"We have saved the NHS £1.5m this year and that's across all of our surgical specialities," she said.

"By us doing these day cases, it frees up the hospital to do their much more complicated cases that require general anaesthetics or inpatient stays.

"If 100 GP surgeries are able to embark on a similar setting to this, we could really come a long way to meet the targets that Labour has introduced.

"If you could extrapolate that to many other sites across the country, you could make a huge difference to the current situation to the NHS."

On Thursday, latest figures showed the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England had risen for a second consecutive month, to 7.6 million.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Frontline teams are continuing to work exceptionally hard under significant pressure to provide the best care they can for patients, but everyone recognises that access and waiting times are currently far from what the public have a right to expect.

“Everyone working in the health service is committed to working with the government, and with patients and the public, to tackle these challenges."