A "TELEPHONE triage" system pioneered by a Christchurch clinic is being spread throughout the NHS.

The Stour Access System developed by Dr Simon Coupe and his partners at the Stour Surgery in Barrack Road was formally launched at the Royal College of General Practitioners conference in Edinburgh.

The Stour Access System provides quicker and more effective treatment for patients by avoiding unnecessary surgery consultations with a GP.

Instead of making an appointment through a receptionist, patients calling the surgery are contacted by a medical expert - their GP - to discuss symptoms, have their treatment needs assessed, receive advice, and if necessary make arrangements to see a doctor, nurse or other health professional.

And by cutting the number of appointments needed, GPs are freed to provide more time and improved care to the patients who need it most.

Linked with the walk-in nurse clinic operated at the practice, the Stour Surgery telephone triage regime has been in place for several years already and has led to satisfaction levels of more than 90 per cent among the 9,000 patients on the register.

"It is just another way of doing it. Not everybody likes it and some patients would still prefer to see their doctor in the surgery - and they can - but it gives us and them greater flexibility," said Dr Coupe.

He estimated around a third of patients calling the surgery were dealt with by telephone, another third referred for treatment by a practice nurse and the remainder booked to see the GP face to face.

Now the Stour surgery model has been taken up by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, which has published a glossy brochure to encourage and enable other GP practices to adopt the telephone triage system.