If you have ever asked your NHS GP to remove a skin tag or a lump you don’t like the look of, you have probably been told no. That is not your GP being unhelpful. The NHS simply does not fund removal of lesions that are not a health risk, and I understand why, resources have to go where they are needed most. But it leaves a lot of people stuck with something that bothers them, sometimes catches on clothing or jewellery, and occasionally makes them self-conscious, with nowhere to turn.
This is exactly the gap our minor surgery service fills.
Dr Andrew Welch at Health & Aesthetics
What we treat
Dr Andrew Welch, one of our GP Partners, carries out minor surgical procedures at the clinic. He treats:
- Skin tags
- Moles, including benign mole removal and mole assessment
- Fibromas
- Cysts
- Lipomas
- Granulomas
- In-growing toenails
- Other minor skin lesions
Andrew has been doing this kind of work in general practice for over ten years and is also a GP trainer, so patients are in genuinely experienced hands. What I appreciate most about his approach is the attention to detail with wound closure. A scar that is well planned and well sutured heals far better than one that has been rushed, and it shows.
Why histology matters, and I will not compromise on this
Every single lesion we remove goes to the pathologist. No exceptions.
I know some clinics skip this step to save cost, particularly for things that look obviously benign. I think that is a mistake, and I would go as far as saying it is poor practice. Skin lesions do not always look like what they are. I have seen enough over the years to know that a mole which looked entirely unremarkable to the naked eye came back with something the patient needed to know about. Histology is not a box ticking exercise, it is patient safety, plain and simple. If a result is abnormal, you will know, and we can guide you on next steps. Most of the time it simply confirms what we expected, which is its own kind of reassurance.
What actually happens
Most procedures are done under local anaesthetic, so you are awake but the area is numbed. It is quick, generally a single appointment, and results are immediate, the lesion is gone there and then.
Depending on what has been removed, you might leave with a dressing or with stitches. If there are stitches, these usually come out seven to fourteen days later. The scar starts off pink and gradually fades to a fine white line over the following months, this takes about a year to properly settle. Supporting the wound with steri-strips or micropore tape for three to four weeks while it heals makes a real difference to how narrow the final scar ends up, so please do not skip this part even once it feels healed.
As with any surgical procedure there are small risks, bleeding, infection, scarring and rarely nerve damage. These are uncommon but worth knowing about before you go ahead.
Cherry spots, thread veins and spider naevi are a different job
I want to be clear about this because patients sometimes lump all skin blemishes together, understandably.
Cherry angiomas, thread veins and spider naevi are vascular lesions, small clusters of blood vessels rather than growths of tissue. They do not need cutting out. Our aesthetic therapists treat these using laser or hyfrecator technology, and it is a quick appointment with no downtime at all. If this is what you are dealing with, you do not need to see Andrew, you can go straight to our therapist-led treatment.
Is it worth doing privately
I get asked this a lot, so I will give you my honest opinion rather than a diplomatic non-answer. If something is not causing you a health problem, the NHS is right to prioritise elsewhere, but that does not mean the thing bothering you does not matter. Confidence matters. Comfort in your own skin, sometimes literally, matters. If a lipoma is catching under your bra strap every day or a skin tag under your arm nicks every time you shave, that is a legitimate reason to have it dealt with, and there is nothing indulgent about choosing to.
What I would say is do it properly. Go somewhere CQC-registered, make sure whoever removes it sends it for histology, and make sure you are told honestly what the healing process and scarring will look like. That is what we offer, and it is why patients come back to us for these procedures rather than looking for the cheapest option they can find.
Getting started
If you have a lesion you would like assessed, book a consultation with Dr Andrew Welch and he will talk you through whether it is suitable for removal, what to expect, and pricing. Procedures start from £250.
