FAMILY doctors could win a national accolade for their efforts in cutting paperwork in their practices.

The Dales Primary Care Group, made up of doctors' practices caring for 88,000 people in Wear Valley, Weardale and Teesdale, has been shortlisted for the Doctor Vision Awards 2000.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony in London, on November 21.

The awards, organised in association with the NHS Alliance, reward good ideas in primary care and celebrate achievements of pioneering practices in the UK.

The Dales group is being recognised for introducing initiatives to develop electronic patient records systems in GP practices.

All its members now have the same computer system for patients' records, which makes it easier to focus on training and development.

A clinical system is being developed so that results of consultations can be e-mailed to the relevant GP directly from the out-of-hours urgent care centre, in Bishop Auckland.

Practices are encouraged to become paperless through the introduction of an incentive scheme to support Information Technology.

The Dales group is planning to reimburse GPs with up to 100 per cent of their support and maintenance costs. The group is also developing an easy-to-use Internet website to provide health information for the public, including advice on common ailments and information about each practice. Its address is: www.dalespcg.co.uk

Chris Bolland, the group's information management and technology manager, said: "Dales Primary Care Group believes that it is providing, through the use of information technology, the best possible way to gain access to information about patients, as well as giving the patients the best possible way to gain access to information. This is the outcome that patients want and have a right to expect.