A MEDICAL practice in East Lancashire is celebrating not one but two awards from a prestigious health service gathering.

Judges at the annual General Practice Awards picked out Darwen Healthcare as the GP Team of the Year and they also won the practice nursing prize at the London event.

Several members of staff travelled down to London to attend the ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge.

Each year the awards seek to recognise, highlight and reward the hard work and innovation which is carried out daily in practices across the UK.

The GP team nomination came as the result of work carried out by the James Street health centre on promoting better navigation and developing a new clinical model for patients.

This was said to have utilised a number of new clinical roles, including advanced clinical practitioners, physician associates, paramedic practitioners and clinical pharmacists.

Part of their revamp has seen staff working closely with the Department of Work and Pensions, which was regarded as “innovative”.

Judges were also impressed by their attention to staff training and education and development, for both clinical and non-clinical staff.

And the practice nursing award involvement came about as the result of the staff’s approach to chronic disease and screening.

This covered the likes of pre-diabetes, dementia, stroke and transient ischemic attacks, cervical and bowel, mammograms, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and frailty.

Dr Penny Morris, the outfit’s senior GP partner, said: “I am incredibly proud of our whole practice team and being at the awards to receive this prestigious national award for GP team of the Year, on behalf of them, was an honour.

“The competition was significant and is evidence that there is an abundance of outstanding work going on in general practice across the country at a time when the NHS is under ever increasing pressures.

“The Practice Nursing Award really is recognition of a lot of hard work and enthusiasm that clinical and administrative staff put into the team to improve care for patients.”

Ann Neville, Darwen Healthcare’s business manager, added: “It was an amazing evening. I was shocked and delighted at the same time and couldn’t sleep that night.

“Every single person ranging from GP partner, GP, trainees, advanced clinical nurse practitioners, physician associates, paramedic practitioners, pharmacists, practice nurses, assistant practitioners, healthcare assistants, and admin and reception staff at Darwen Healthcare have worked incredibly hard and their dedication and hard work has paid off.”

Dr Ridwaan Ahmed, Blackburn with Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group’s clinical director of quality and primary care, said: “We are very proud of all of our practices and absolutely delighted for Darwen Healthcare for winning this award.

“The team works extremely hard and being awarded ‘outstanding’ by the CQC and now ‘GP Team of the Year and Practice Nursing Award 2019’ is truly well deserved. Well done to all.”