First contact is normally the GP, of course. If required an appointment's made with a consultant at a hospital, then another date set for the operation before recuperation on a ward and finally back home. At any of these junction points the system can get clogged. The new model is for the system to work around the needs of the patient. Specialist teams will be put together with old job demarcations forgotten.
Nurses free up doctors' time.
GP's free up surgeons time and social services and community teams free up wards and operating theatres. A visit to the GP's surgery may be a very different experience from now on. For a start, it's likely you won't get to see your GP at all. The reforms are designed to end the long, frustrating wait for the doctor to come free. They may even carry out routine surgery.