HASLEMERE Health Centre beat off stiff competition to be rated best for delivering top quality service in NHS England’s General Practice Awards 2017.

The surgery won the ‘Developing the Practice’ award in the GP Forward View Innovations section for its state-of-the-art repeat prescribing service, which uses computer software to ensure all repeat prescriptions are safety checked before re-authorisation and that the necessary blood pressure and blood tests have been completed.

The process is overseen and has been enhanced by Katherine Borrett, the practice pharmacist, who liaises with patients as well as the GPs, hospital and chemists to ensure that prescriptions are issued promptly and safely.

Practice team GP Dr Nolan Geeves, who is responsible for the wards at Haslemere Hospital, said: “We have no doubt the investment and time we have put into improving our prescription service has created a safer and quicker service for our patients and we are delighted this has been recognised.”

The health centre was also a finalist in the GP Forward View ‘Productive Workflows’ category, for its pioneeering system to scan, summarise and take action concerning over 1,000 documents that the practice deals with each week.

Processing these documents can become a significant part of a GP’s workload, reducing the time spent on the direct care of patients.

Practice team GP Dr Phil Ridsdill-Smith, who is also chairman of the Guildford and Waverley GP Federation Procare Health, said: “We have addressed this important task in a systematic way to improve the quality of care we offer.”