HEALTH bosses are to hold urgent talks with GPs at a York health centre who wrote to patients telling them the NHS will no longer fund minor operations.

It has tonight been reported that doctors at the Haxby and Wigginton Health Centre had instead advised patients they would have to go private for procedures such as dealing with ingrowing toenails, mole removal and cutting out warts and cysts.

A letter from John McEvoy, managing partner at the centre – which serves more than 20,000 patients - obtained by the website nhsmanagers.net said: “We are holding your details on a list of patients who require a minor surgical procedure that is no longer paid for by the NHS.

“As a result, I am writing to make you aware of some of the options you have to have the procedure completed as a private patient.”

The Guardian reported Mr McEvoy as saying NHS savings meant health trusts were no longer prepared to fund such treatments and the centre had decided to explain that patients could have them done privately, with GPs making little or no profit.

NHS North Yorkshire and York’s medical director Dr David Geddes said the trust was worried about possible breaches of the Data Protection Act and the accuracy of the information, adding: “We have some concerns about the activities of the Haxby and Wigginton Health Centre and we will be discussing these issues with them directly as a matter of urgency.”

* Are you among the patients at Haxby and Wigginton Health Centre who has received this letter? If so, phone Mark Stead at The Press on 01904 567156.