Surgery is cut above the rest (From Western Telegraph)

Surgery is cut above the rest

24News: Surgery award A TOP national accolade has been won by a Haverfordwest GP practice.

Winch Lane Surgery has become the first practice in Wales to achieve the prestigious Quality Practice Award from the Royal College of General Practitioners.

The award recognises practices which offer a very high quality of care to their patients.

Winch Lane surgery has 12,800 patients.

The 46 members of the surgerys primary care team - including district nurses, health visitors, a dietician, community midwives, practice nurses, a nurse practitioner, health care assistants, receptionists, administrative staff and GPs - were all involved in the 30 months preparation for the award.

A four strong assessment team visited the practice to interview the team and patients and to verify the mammoth 900-page written report submitted for the award.

On Thursday evening, Dr Ruth Hall, chief medical officer for Wales, and Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer for England, co-presented the award to Dr Andrew Weaver, who accepted it on behalf of the whole team.

Dr Andrew Weaver and his wife, Dr Ann Weaver, were at medical school at Bristol University with the professor, who congratulated the practice on its outstanding achievement.

Only 30 practices in the whole of the United Kingdom have received the award, he said, adding that it was a recognition of quality and the way in which teams of people worked well together in a multi-professional way. This is a very important award, he added.

Praise for the hard work that had gone into achieving the award was given by Dr Ruth Hall. She said this should be a wake-up call to other surgeries throughout Wales and she hoped that the Winch Lane Surgery would tell people how to achieve the award and what it is like to work in such a team.

Dr Rhodri Jones, the lead GP for the Quality Practice Award, said: Team communication, understanding and unified effort were the key to achieving the QPA. By undertaking a review of established working practices and introducing new ones, we are continually improving patient care and looking to the future.

Practice manager Michael McManus said: The award is the gold standard and acted as a tremendous challenge and team-building exercise in improving our standards of care for patients.

Thanks were also extended to guests Dr Terry Davies, Royal College of General Practitioners chairman for Wales, and Dr Jill Paterson, acting director of quality, Dyfed Powys Health Authority, for their support during the application.