Meet your 2024 General Practice Award Winners

On Friday 6^th December, the 2024 General Practice Awards were held at the Novotel London West, hosted by comedian John Robins.

The 2024 General Practice Awards welcomed over 570 guests from across primary care and the community, as well as healthcare industry representatives, for a fantastic night celebrating the very best in patient care and innovation. The event highlighted the commitment, dedication, and passion of teams and individuals working across the UK.

Group Editor at Cogora, Gemma Collins, gave the opening presentation:

'I know that all of you here tonight are passionate about the NHS and ensuring that it evolves for the better. You’re working against a backdrop of major changes happening in healthcare on our doorstep and across the world. Many of which may be causing some trepidation as to what 2025 will bring.

I was lucky enough to be one of the judges on the panel for the Sustainability in Practice category which seeks to recognise those who have adopted greener ways of working in general practice. It’s not only the commitment to sustainability which is impressive but the way that staff members are coming together to drive development.

This drive for change and improvement is apparent in all that you do for primary care. Tonight is our chance to put all our worries to one side and celebrate the very best examples of general practice.'

Without further ado, here are the 2024 General Practice Awards winners:

Practice Manager of the Year
WINNER: Pete Woodward, Practice Manager, Cheadle Medical Practice, Cheshire
Sponsored by GP Profit Recovery
Pete has transformed the way the practice operates through the creation and implementation of a completely new triage appointment system and a new management structure within the practice. Average wait times on the phone have decreased from 25 minutes to under 3. Pete has been able to start working with other local practices to streamline processes, provide management support, and support with implementation of total triage.

Reception Team of the Year
WINNER: Rachael Bird and the Kingswood Health Centre Reception Team, Somerset
Sponsored by AMSPAR
Rachael and the team have been integral in the design and implementation of a new total triage system and cloud-based telephony and have honed their care navigation skills – all with good humour, a patient focused approach and a wonderful sense of teamwork. Rachael is a standout leader for the team. Embracing new ways of working, and working closely with PCN staff. Rachael leads by example and with empathy, passionate about her vocation.

HCP Programme Provider of the Year
WINNER: GP Support Hub, Suffolk and North East Essex
The concept of the GP Support Hub is a ‘Citizen’s Advice Bureau’ for GPs, a ‘one stop shop.’ Whatever question, issue, or problem, the GPSH will guide you to a solution, providing a bespoke service where every contact is personal and confidential.

Clinical Improvement Award: Long Term Conditions
WINNER: RESPiRE: Respiratory Education, Self-Management, and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, East Riding of Yorkshire
RESPiREaims to revolutionize respiratory care by focusing on education, self-management, and personalized rehabilitation pathways, improving quality of life and health outcomes for people with chronic long term lung diseases. Its primary goal is to improve the identification, uptake, and education of patients needing pulmonary rehabilitation.

Clinical Improvement Award: Mental Health
WINNER: Growing Resilience in Teens (GRIT) in partnership with the NHS, Hertfordshire
Partnering Primary Care with the expertise of a local charity, GRIT (Growing Resilience in Teens), this mental health scheme has proved highly successful, supporting hundreds of young people to date and has recently expanded into a neighbouring area and PCN.

Clinical Improvement Award: Public Health & Prevention
WINNER: Be Breast Savvy Liverpool - Anfield and Everton PCN Community Innovation Team
Health Equity Liverpool Project, Merseyside
The BeBreastSavvyLiverpool campaign’s aim was to promote breast cancer screening, and to alleviate fears and promote the benefits of screening through creative health education and communications. The Community Innovation Team took the BeBreastSavvyLiverpool Roadshow to community venues across north Liverpool to tackle this issue.

Digital Solutions Provider of the Year
WINNER: Healthtech-1
Healthtech-1 have streamlined the GP registration process, supporting proactive healthcare, signposting patients to referral services immediately, rather than reactively post appointment. Based in a GP practice, they’re already working hard on the next set of automations, designed around their experience of working at the front door of the NHS.

Pharmacist/Pharmacy Team of the Year
WINNER: Orpington PCN Pharmacy Team, Greater London
Orpington PCN Pharmacy Team has focused on quality improvement projects ranging from opioid management, to increased statin use among CKD patients, enhanced access via eRD promotion, and examining historic MHRA alerts to ensure continued and improving safety across our PCN population.

Medical Supplier of the Year
WINNER: Dene Healthcare
Recognised on the 2024 Sunday Times Best Places to Work list, the team at Dene Healthcare are continually striving to develop and grow, ensuring they provide the very best for General Practice. They have launched a General Practice Support Day within ICBs to bring GP teams together, with an agenda set by practices for management teams – used as away days, informal training or even the AGM. They are working towards green credentials and are helping surgeries in benchmarking their carbon footprint and developing their own green plans.

Extended Practice Team Member of the Year
WINNER: Wendy Foster, Counselling Service Lead, Freshney Pelham Primary Care Network, Lincolnshire
Wendy has redesigned the counselling service on offer to patients at the PCN. Working tirelessly to build something alternative, whilst targeting gaps in the current Mental Health services, ensuring that support is normalized and easily accessible. She now leads a team of 5 multi-skilled practitioners who all share a genuine care and pride towards patients. Wendy also supports training counsellors on Degree and masters programmes across the country to impact the next generation.

Staffing/Recruitment Agency of the Year
WINNER: Menlo Park Recruitment
Known for their successful work as recruitment specialists in their region, Menlo Park have extensive knowledge and experience that allows them to provide timely and effective solutions for clients. Their success at finding the right candidates allows practices to ensure their own sustainability and longevity, with patients gaining access to better care. 

Nurse/Nursing Team of the Year Award
WINNER: Brownlow Health Nursing Team, Merseyside
Sponsored by YGAM – Young Gamers & Gamblers Education Trust
Serving a patient population of 80,000, the Brownlow Health Nursing Team have successfully developed a range of new and innovative roles including Homeless in-reach nurses and a nurse led frailty team. The team’s range of experience and skills mix enables them to provide a quality driven service that meets the needs of their patients.

The General Practitioner of the Year
WINNER: Dr Mark Gaffney, Senior Partner, Chairman, Victoria Medical Centre, Clinical Director, Victoria PCN, Eastbourne
Sponsored by Yakult
Mark has set up an out of hours service, was a member of the LMC, and instigated the local ‘hospice at home’ service. For 25 years he was the medical officer for a 55 bed spinal injury and severe neuro disability charitable trust. He has worked with NHSE and the home office to manage and contain a year-long diptheria outbreak, and he set up a first wave covid vaccination centre that delivered 100,000+ vaccines.

PCN of the Year
WINNER: South Sefton Primary Care Network, Merseyside
Sponsored by medi2data
This PCN has significantly improved capacity and access, adding over 20,000 appointments into general practice via their South Sefton Access Service. They remain responsive to local priorities, patient need and patient voice, with their structure operating a neighbourhood model, aligned to the integrated care / neighbourhood team.

Telecoms Provider of the Year
WINNER: THINK Healthcare
This platform has revolutionized the communication infrastructure for primary care practices by integrating advanced data-driven solutions within NHS clinical systems. The system helps optimize operations and significantly improves patient and staff satisfaction while reducing access inequalities and digital exclusion.

Digital Innovation Award
WINNER: Wide Way Medical Centre, Surrey
Sponsored by THINK Healthcare
The team has developed the General Practice Support Service in partnership with the London Ambulance Service to integrate a practice-LAS triage algorithm linking cloud-based telephony systems across providers to safely navigate patients to the right care outcome. This model is now working at PCN level and being adopted by other providers across the UK.

Sustainability in Practice Award
WINNER: Frome Medical Practice, Somerset
Standing as a beacon of sustainability within the healthcare sector, Frome Medical Practice exemplify an unwavering dedication to sustainability. From spearheading the inaugural Green Impact for Health conference; to having a pivotal role in shaping the Somerset sustainability strategy; it’s clear they are trailblazers in the field.  It is their mission to galvanize collective action towards a greener future.

Professional Services Provider of the Year
WINNER: Simpkins Edwards
Aligning their approach with the dynamic needs of modern GP practices, Simpkins Edwards have led a shift in the provision of accountancy services within the healthcare industry. With a pursuit of operational excellence and commitment to client success, a new standard for professional service providers has been set.

GP Team of the Year
WINNER: Liverpool Homeless Palliative Care Multidisciplinary Team, Brownlow Health & Marie Curie Liverpool, Merseyside
Recognising the poor care and outcomes for patients experiencing homelessness at the end of their life, the Brownlow Health Homeless Team along with Marie Curie Hospice formed a Homeless Palliative Care MDT. The team allows every person to be supported as they reach end of life, in the place of their choosing, with those that matter most to them. A collaborative effort from a team that shows excellence in their dedication and their care.

We also had Highly Commended accolades for the following awards:

Extended Practice Team Member of the Year
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Gary Groves, Patient Mentor & Support Worker, Brownlow Health & The Whitechapel Centre

GP of the Year
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Dr Stephanie Lamb,  Co-Founder and Clinical Director of The Well Centre

Clinical Improvement Award: Long Term Conditions
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Rochdale Infirmary GP led Intermediate Care Team

Practice Manager of the Year
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Krishna Solanki, Zainab Patel, Rupal Giga, Manager Trio at Victoria Park Health Centre

Sustainability in Practice Award
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Greener Practice’s High Quality and Low Carbon Asthma Care Quality Improvement Toolkit Team

PCN of the Year
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Central, Thistlemoor and Thorpe PCN

The General Practice Awards will be back in 2025 with new categories, a new host, and lots of opportunities for you and your team to shine! To stay updated, sign up to our mailing list.