A HEALTH boss has urged GP practices to follow the lead of an Accrington surgery which changed its booking system after a flood of complaints from patients.

David Rogers, assistant chief executive of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Primary Care Trust, praised staff at Peel House Medical Centre who are to change booking arrangements because of problems caused by a Government target.

Some patients were unable to get through on the telephone or to book an appointment for a future date because of a target to see all patients within 48 hours.

The issue famously saw Prime Minister Tony Blair left speechless on live TV after being confronted by an angry patient at last year's General Election.

Mr Rogers said: "It is incumbent on every practice to resolve this where it needs to be resolved. The problems and challenges that GP practices face are probably very similar across Lancashire and PCTs, I am sure, will be keen to encourage innovative and creative responses to access issues."

The new system at Peel House, in Avenue Parade, will go live on Monday and give callers a choice of being seen that day, having a consultation by telephone or seeing a doctor of their choice at a future date.

Previously patients had to ring on the day to get an appointment which often proved impossible.

Senior partner Dr Roy Wallworth said demand had become "increasingly difficult" to manage and patients were often not seen in order of need.

He said: "We knew it wasn't working because we were getting daily feedback from patients. Who was seen first wasn't necessarily the person who needed to be seen first. Patients got an appointment that day because they persevered on the phone or came here in person.

"The majority liked the fact that they can get an appointment the same day but for people who work or wanted to make a pre-booked appointment this system was found to be too difficult.

"Similarly, people who want to consult a particular nurse or doctor found it difficult to see them using the same-day system.

"We also found some patients were getting appoint-ments on the same day for conditions which could have waited, while others with quite significant problems ended up having to try again on another day because all the available appointments had been taken."

The Department of Health moved quickly to assure patients they could choose to be seen more than 48 hours in advance after the television incident last April.

Dr Malcolm Ridgway, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen PCTs GP committee, said many practices had moved to put in place similar scheme but some were "more successful" than others.

Many were waiting to see the impact of further Government reforms, he said.