Operations at home? I give up.

Patricia, Patricia, Patricia.

You're most recent 'idea' is to have actual surgical proceedures carried out in the GP surgery.

Where, oh, where do I start with this one? I mean, there is just so much that you can satire. When the material coming out of the DoH reads like the script to Plan 9 From Outer Space, it's impossible to make it more silly.

So, I'll try and be more serious.

Ms Hewitt, this is a really, really bad idea. So bad, in fact, that I would go so far as to say that reckless.

1. This is not new - there are still some of us about who remember GPs doing tonsillectomys on the kitchen table. We also remember the complication and death rate associated with such poor and dangerous care.

2. One of my patients this very week nearly died when his hernia repair from a very experienced surgeon went horribly wrong. This is the first time I've seen such a thing, but we can expect a lot more if surgery is transferred back to the community.

3. The plan is not actually for GPs to do the operations, but for a surgeon to do it with a GP assisting.

4. The surgeon will spend time travelling to lots of different operating theatres, which is a loss of efficiency.

5. The surgeon will be working with lots of different GP/nurse teams, so losing the efficiency of an experienced team.

6. Rather than using a hospital theatre, which the NHS already has too many of, you will need to build lots of expensive new operating theatres in GP surgeries. Very expensive.



There really is no up side to this plan.

It can only have been dreamed up by a total fucking moron.

Which brings me nicely full circle back to Patricia.