A GP behind the report recommending the closure of 200 hospital beds in our region has warned that doctors and patients now face “really challenging times”.

Dr Douglas Moederle-Lumb, chief executive of the North Yorkshire Local Medical Committee, was part of the independent commission behind recommendations intended to provide essential savings of £230 million by 2015 in North Yorkshire and York.

The report recommends shifting more patient care in to the community and into residents’ own homes, in a bid to save money.

He said: “You might have an operation then you might go home after a couple of days. You might have to go back several times for check-ups and it’s very expensive.

“It may that GPs can do that in their surgeries rather than people going back to hospital.”

He also called for a major rethink on drug prescriptions, saying NHS cash was being wasted on unused drugs.

“There is a lot of waste in the system,” he said.

“It may be that patients are being prescribed things they don’t need.

“For example we go in to an old person’s home and find lots of unused medication – it’s about analysing need.”

As the Government prepares to hand over the responsibility for spending the billions in NHS cash to GP commissioning groups, Dr Moederle-Lumb said he was confident the people of North Yorkshire and York trusted their GPs.

“That trust is well placed and we will continue to wisely use the NHS resources on their behalf – they can trust us to do it.”

The independent report, published on Tuesday, made 44 recommendations on areas where savings could be made and warned of catastrophic consequences if money was not clawed back.