PATIENTS from all over the country who are being forced to travel abroad for treatment could soon be seen at York District Hospital.

Dr Ian Jackson, lead clinician in the hospital's day surgery unit, has joined forces with four similar units from the south of England in a bid to persuade Health Secretary Alan Milburn to send patients to them instead of paying for treatment abroad.

Dr Jackson said money which would otherwise have been spent by the NHS on overseas treatment could then be given to the hospital to keep the day surgery open at the weekend and possibly later into the evenings.

The cash could cover costs like staff overtime and hotel bills for patients travelling from other parts of the country to have surgery at York, he added.

Even with those costs, he said, he would still have money left over to plough back into the unit.

He claimed that increasing the day unit's capacity would also allow it to cater for more York patients who were currently taking up beds on ordinary wards, not because their treatment requires an overnight stay, but because the day surgery unit is too busy.

"This is an innovative plan, but I am putting my hands in the air and saying clearly to the Government that sending patients abroad is madness," Dr Jackson said.

"Give the money to my unit and I'll keep it open longer. Invest the money in the NHS, not in services abroad. Patients might have to travel further in this country, but that is preferable to going abroad."

The surgery is open from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday. Dr Jackson is proposing to open it at weekends if the Government accepts the proposals, presented by the British Association of Day Surgery, of which Dr Jackson is a member.

Its president, Paul Baskerville, said: "If day surgery were properly used by the NHS, thousands of beds could be released each year."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "There is no contradiction between saying we should have better use of day surgery within the UK and that, where appropriate, patients can be treated abroad.

"It is key that no patient will be forced to go abroad for treatment. If day surgery in these cases offers a better deal for the patient, is better value for money and is what the patient wants, there is no reason why it shouldn't be taken up."

Susan Acott, acute services director at the York Health Trust, said the initiative was from the British Association of Day Surgeons rather than the trust. But she added: "If there was the resource available from central Government along the lines that the association is suggesting, then we would consider it."

Updated: 10:04 Friday, October 19, 2001