What minor surgeries can a GP do?
Minor surgery is an umbrella term for surgery that can be done in a GP surgery without the need for a full general anaesthetic. It usually means the removal of lumps, bumps and moles.
Private Minor Surgery Appointments
Access to minor surgery through the NHS can vary by area and clinical criteria. Due to limited resources, the NHS may not routinely provide procedures considered cosmetic, such as the removal of lumps, bumps or other benign skin lesions that are not causing a medical problem.
At Stonegate Medical Clinic, private minor surgery appointments are available, with suitability assessed by a doctor during consultation.
Skin Tags
Skin tags are very common soft harmless lesions that appear to hang off the skin. Skin tags develop in both men and women as they grow older. They are skin coloured or darker and range in size from 1mm to 5cm. They are most often found in the skin folds (neck, armpits, groin). Skin tag removal is usually performed using clinical methods such as cryotherapy, surgical excision, or cautery. At Stonegate Medical Clinic we use cautery to remove them at their base.
Seborrhoeic Keratoses / Seborrhoeic Warts (Skin Lesion)
A seborrhoeic keratosis is a benign (harmless) lesion that resembles a wart. They usually appear during adult life as we age. An individual seborrhoeic keratosis can easily be removed if desired. At Stonegate Medical Clinic we remove these by curetting them (basically scraping them off the skin).
Lipoma
Lipomas are fatty lumps under the skin which are usually benign (harmless). Very occasionally lipomas can mimic certain very early cancers. During your initial consultation, the clinician will assess the lipoma to determine the most appropriate clinical pathway, which may include further diagnostic imaging. Lipomas are removed in exactly the same way as a sebaceous cyst.
Moles (Skin Lesion)
Most moles are harmless. On the NHS if the doctor is worried about a mole being potentially a cancer then they fast track you to see dermatologist quickly. Most moles are not cancerous and therefore if you want them removing the NHS does not have the resources to do this. We remove the mole by cutting a rugby ball shape around the mole, removing it and then putting stitches in to close the wound edges.
A Guide to Anaesthetic
Minor surgery procedures are usually carried out under local anaesthetic. This involves an injection to numb the nerves supplying the relevant area of skin before the procedure is performed, helping to support patient comfort during treatment.
Patients typically describe the initial sensation as a brief, mild sting, followed by numbness of the area.
Most procedures require a similar set of tools for the surgeon to use and so the prices vary according to the time it takes and also the number of specimen pots we have to send to the lab for testing.
We send all suspicious lesions to the lab for testing. This is for your safety as sometimes cancers surprise us and can be found in the most innocent lesions. If you have a few lesions then they usually have to travel in different pots; this is for your safety.
This does, unfortunately, make it more expensive to remove a few lesions as we have to charge extra for any extra analysis but the doctor will discuss the fees with you at your appointment.
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Please note all prices are approximate and the fee will be confirmed at the initial consultation
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Minor Surgery Consultation £89
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Non-cancerous skin lesion removal from £400
(Including histology)
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Skin tag removal from £200
(Excluding histology).
Each skin tag attracts a separate histology fee from the lab, and exact price will be confirmed during the minor surgery consultation.