HEALTHCARE bosses have praised a pioneering telephone triage system helping to save lives at an Unsworth GP practice.

Unsworth Medical Centre, in Parr Lane, implemented the scheme two years ago as a pilot programme and it has now earned the approval of the NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The system allows patients reporting potentially dangerous conditions to speak to a doctor immediately to ensure they get the urgent care they need.

One recent case saw a man diagnosed with stroke symptoms and rushed straight to hospital on medical advice after his wife rang the practice.

Paula McCrossan, practice manager, said: "Our staff have a number of key words such as 'chest pain' that signify the patient may need a GP's emergency help.

"In this case, the caller thought it was something that could wait for a routine appointment. The quicker someone with a stroke gets treatment, the more of the person you save – and so our GP advised her husband to go to hospital straight away.

"One of the main advantages of the system is that we can treat more patients. We used to see the same faces at the door every day and they took up all of the appointments. Sometimes all people want is a little reassurance and that is something a GP can offer by phone."

In June, over 1,000 patients consulted one of the practice’s five GPs by phone.

Patients first speak to specially trained receptionists and are then either advised to visit the pharmacist, or are put through to a GP to arrange an appointment or be referred to accident and emergency (A&E).

Dr Kiran Patel, chairman of NHS Bury CCG, said: "This system has enabled more patients in Unsworth to receive quality care and at the same time has dealt with growing demand.

"Both as a borough and a nation, we are looking at ways of our improving our healthcare provision at surgeries and increasing accessibility while at the same time saving resources and encouraging patients to take better care of themselves.

"The telephone triage system is popular with GPs and is working for patients in Unsworth and we will continue to monitor its progress with great interest."