Bradford Health Authority staff were celebrating today after scooping a national award.

The organisation has been named Health Authority of the Year by medical publication the Health Service Journal.

Bradford South and West Primary Care Group, now a trust, was also one of two runner-ups in the PCG of the Year award.

In praise of its forward-thinking policies, cuts in waiting lists and winter planning, the judges said Bradford Health Authority had "really grabbed hold of the agenda and is shaping up for the future."

They added: "It is keen on and committed to partnership working and has good evidence of success, especially with the local authority."

Entrants were judged on their ability to understand health staff and patients, working with other organisations, improvements in services and future plans.

Bradford's achievements included being the first health authority in the region to "let go'' of all of its PCGs which became trusts and more independent in October.

As the eighth most deprived district in the UK, its Health Action Zone workers have tackled local health problems such as diabetes with special clinics.

And statistics show the district has seen a cut in waiting lists from about 13,000 cases in 1998 to just over 10,000 this year.

Authority chairman Councillor Ralph Berry said it was a good day for Bradford which had achieved the award ahead of a strong field.

He said: "Bradford is at the leading edge of modernising and implementing health services. All of this has been achieved by the hard work and dedication of a strong team." But chief executive Ian Donnachie warned there was still much to do.

"We have made some great strides in the past year and the award marks those, but it also gives us renewed momentum to build on this good work into the future."

South and West Primary Care Trust, which has created specialist GPs to cut down hospital waiting lists, was described by judges as "a unique example of what primary care can do in terms of taking on sub-specialist care."