THREE GP surgeries have achieved a 100 per cent rating in their healthcare good practice, despite having to make huge changes due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Newton Community Hospital Practice, on Bradlegh Road; Newton Medical Centre, on Belvedere Road; and The Bowery Medical Centre, on Elephant Lane all attained the top score in the NHS 2019/20 Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) results despite having to cope with measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

QoF is a voluntary scheme that almost all GP surgeries in England sign up to which highlights the achievement of good practice in a range of measures.

In 2018-19, only 13 per cent of practices across England hit the 100 per cent score.

The figure is calculated from how practices deal with medical problems, including asthma, cancer, heart and kidney disease, dementia, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis.

It also logs public health benchmarks, which include levels for blood pressure, cytology, obesity and smoking.

The St Helens surgeries are part of 28 practices across the North West run by GP ‘super-practice’ SSP Health, 23 of which achieved a 100 per cent QoF rating with four more attaining more than 99 per cent.

Dr Shikha Pitalia, GP and Director of SSP Health, said: “We are overjoyed at the success of our St Helens practices in this important indicator of the level of care they provide.

“It is fantastic that our surgeries have achieved such outstanding results. They reflect the hard work of all our staff throughout the year.

“We are especially pleased that these high scores have been achieved partly during the COVID-19 outbreak, when we have had to totally re-design how our patients access the advice and treatment we provide.

“Due to the need to prevent the spread of the virus – and to keep our patients and staff as safe as possible from infection – we have had to move from a majority of appointments being face-to-face to most now being done on the phone.

“Despite this, we have been able to hit the very high benchmarks that QoF demands, so patients can be reassured they are still getting the very best care at our practices.”

Dr Pitalia added: “We know that continuing to look after people properly for medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, depression and dementia, and hitting our targets for preventative care, including cervical screening and reducing smoking, needs to be done in spite of the pandemic.

“These QoF results show we are continuing to do this in the face of unprecedented pressures.”