Wigs, false teeth and the bitter pill of waste

But the financial cost of an accessible system soon hit home. There was such a run on wigs, they proved too costly and Bevan had to remove them from the NHS.

Cuckfield GP Dr Nicholas Barrie told the anecdote at a public meeting in Clair Hall, Haywards Heath, organised by the new Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for Horsham and Mid Sussex last Thursday (April 25).

He said: “Financial problems in the NHS are nothing new, but our 21st century vision is to make the NHS more inclusive and to move away from the white ivory tower that is the hospital and involve more community services.” Horsham GP Dr Simon Dean added: “There is so much inefficiency in the way the NHS operates. Somebody once said 20 per cent of the NHS budget is thrown away through inefficiency, but through better, joined-up services we can use that 20 per cent to benefit patients.”

The emphasis in the new-look NHS, with GPs as commissioners, is providing services closer to home with a strong working relationship with social services.

Dr Karen Eastman from The Brow Medical Centre in Burgess Hill, who is developing a community based service for people with rheumatism, gave the example of a new consultant led dermatology service in some GP practices that is saving patients from long trips to hospital.

She said: “In a one-stop scheme, dermatology patients can book an appointment and have a consultation and treatment on the same day.”

However, members of the audience raised the problem of trying to book surgery appointments, especially first thing in the morning when phone lines are busy.

Dr Barrie said: “By April, 2015, Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, has decreed that all practices should have a facility to allow patients to book their appointment and order their repeat prescriptions on line and that should reduce the pressure on telephones.”

The CCG’s lay member, Mark Davies, said the NHS is no longer a top down organisation, adding: “Patients are at the heart of commissioning services, with GPs and patients working in partnership.”

However, some of the CCG’s 23 GP practices have yet to appoint a patient representative as part of Mr Davies’ vision for a more open NHS.