Sussex GP wins NHS Parliamentary Award

Jonathan Murphy, Assura CEO with Dr Bruce Allan

After a year that was like no other for primary care, we were honoured to meet some of its heroes today as we presented one of NHS England's NHS Parliamentary Awards.

The awards recognise the NHS staff, volunteers and carers going above and beyond the call of duty to make the NHS a better service – nominated by members of parliament. The Excellence in Primary Care category focuses on GPs, community pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, community midwives and health visitors, family planning or sexual health clinic staff – recognising the primary care practitioner or team working with patients to help them stay healthy in their own homes for as long as possible.


The category winner, Dr Bruce Allan from Worthing Medical Group, took the national prize for his work to design and champion a new COVID-19 emergency Locally Commissioned Service (LCS) – temporary GP remote out of hours cover for patients in care homes across Sussex. Dr Allan was nominated by Gillian Keegan MP.


Dr Allan said: “When Covid arrived in Sussex we immediately knew that we needed to act to protect and support our most vulnerable populations. Our first priority was our large care home population. Building on our excellent relationships with Sussex GP providers, we rapidly commissioned an out of hours service to provide weekend cover for our care home population, directly from their registered GP practice, thereby delivering personalised care 7 days a week. Rapid implementation delivered a service which proved effective for patients, as well as popular and appreciated by care home staff and GP practices.”

Our CEO, Jonathan Murphy, said: “Dr Allan’s work is a shining example of the innovation shown by primary care and local care homes working together in such challenging circumstances last year, and the difference that made for some of the most vulnerable patients they care for. It’s been a privilege to support the awards in what was a year like no other for primary care, when the commitment of individuals and teams to the experiences patients have, and their access to health services, came to the fore.”