GPs' surgeries in Bury have been rewarded with a share of £2.5 million following an assessment of the quality of primary health services.

The QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework) is part of the new GP contracts which came into action last year. It was designed nationally with doctors and aims to save lives through preventing illness such as heart disease and cancer.

It rewards practices for providing quality care and measures their achievement against a variety of clinical indicators along with practice organisation and management indicators.

Practices score points according to their levels of achievement against the indicators and payments to surgeries are calculated from the points achieved.

Bury practices had one of the highest average overall points score in Greater Manchester, with a 92 per cent achievement, resulting in £2.5million funding.

The QOF also helps to provide an accurate and up-to-date picture of the treatment and health needs of people in Bury.

Findings so far include almost one in 25 people have coronary heart disease, such as angina, and almost three-quarters have had their blood cholesterol checked out and lowered to a healthy level if needed.

Barbara Barlow, chairman of the patient and public involvement forum for Bury, said: "The QOF isnt just a data collection exercise - information gathered will make real and tangible differences to local health services and outcomes for patients.

"The data collected will assist practices in the planning and delivery of services that meet the health needs of the local population by, for example, highlighting the most common disease areas such as high blood pressure and putting in place measures to address them."