Just give it to GPs they have lots of time for routine check ups

The proposal has been recommended by David Colin-Thomé, the national clinical director for primary care, who has been charged with reviewing primary care services and whose report will be published in January. Dr Colin-Thomé says that most patients concerned about their recovery already see their GP within two weeks of surgery, rather than waiting six weeks to raise the problem with a consultant.
The inefficiency in the NHS's present arrangements, he claims, is compounded by the fact that 11.9% of patients fail to attend their routine check-up. A total of 4.2m appointments were wasted in 2005/6 at a cost of £378m. "The system needs a complete rethink," he told the Guardian. "We waste consultants' precious time and expertise if we force them to spend hours sitting in a room simply telling patients they're recovering fine ... It is like asking a Michelin-star chef to cook microwave meals all day.
"Patients don't need specialists to tell them they are fighting fit. Most will know this themselves, and those who want extra advice and reassurance would get this from their GP. We are finding that most patients who are concerned about their recovery actually contact their GP within two weeks anyway."
The Department of Health calculates the move should save £1.9bn. Government advisers hope that shifting the check-ups to more convenient locations would cut the number of missed hospital appointments. Last night the department said there might be rare instances where consultants might want to see patients after complex operations. A spokesman said: "In the vast majority of cases, routine follow ups would be done by GPs." If patients demanded appointments with a consultant, these would be at the consultant's discretion

I would agree that following each patient up routinely by a consultant at 6 weeks is probably unnecessary. I would suggest that routine follow up by GPs is also a waste of their precious time and expertise.

There is good evidence that patients with post operative complications will consult their local practice in any case and the rest with no problems are probably quite happy to be left alone. The best system would be for GP practices to provide a nurse trained in post operative care who would have direct access to urgent specialist follow up if required. This could be funded by shifting some of the money currently being paid to hospital trusts for post operative care to GP practices. I would also suggest that 6 week follow up should be optional giving the patient choice and responsibility and at the same time reducing costs