A NURSE training scheme run by a group of Bradford GP practices is sharing the glory of a national award.

Five practices, all part of Bradford Districts CCG, are involved in the winning regional scheme designed to encourage more student nurses to get jobs in primary care.

Health Education Yorkshire & the Humber, which co-ordinates the "on-the-job" scheme, has now won a Health Service Journal award in the workforce category.

Bowling Hall Medical Practice, the Ridge, Parklands, Sunnybank and Mayfield are all committed as part of that scheme to raising standards and skills of nurses, as well as encouraging more students to consider careers in GP practices.

They have worked together for several years, offering post-graduate nurse training, undergraduate nurse placement, practice manager and receptionist training and are passionate about developing the role of practice nurses and providing hands-on primary care training opportunities for nursing students so that they can see what career options are available within GP practices.

These include specialist roles caring for patients with complex long-term conditions in the community – so freeing up GPs’ time to deal with patients that only they can see, improving access to specialist practice staff and preventing unplanned hospital admissions.

Lord Willis of Knaresborough, chairman of the national Shape of Caring Review, who visited the Bradford team in the autumn to hear first-hand about their work, congratulated them on the award for their inspirational work.

Chris Brennan, business manager at Bowling Hall Medical Practice, said: “This award is terrific recognition for all the hard work and dedication that local practices have put into making this scheme such a success.

"We are delighted to have played a significant part in this achievement and raised the profile of practice nursing both locally and across Yorkshire and the Humber.

“We have known for many years how important it is to train a new generation of practice nurses and make this a really good career choice for nurses and healthcare assistants to work in primary care – helping patients manage long-term conditions and supporting GPs to care for more people in the community rather than in hospital.”

The Bradford scheme provides placements for trainee nurses, supported by qualified practice nurse mentors who support them in their training.

There are up to 20 practices across Bradford providing placements throughout the year.