After winning the NSW Local Government best health and wellbeing category for town’s under 15,000 people, Cobar’s Primary Health Care Centre has been awarded accreditation by the Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL).

Chair Dr Richard Choong said the accreditation award showed the practice made a significant investment in quality on a day-to-day basis from the top down.

“Achieving accreditation is a major achievement for any practice and it is a clear demonstration that Cobar Primary Health Care Centre is seeking to improve their level of service to both patients and the community,” he said.

“Practices seek accreditation because they want to be the best and view this as another step towards excellence.”

The AGPAL accreditation program was developed jointly by AGPAL and various doctors’ organisations including the AMA.

It is a voluntary national program that aims to provide a range of guarantees to patients by accrediting the practice environment.

To achieve this endorsement a practice team works for 12 months to implement the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practices, which is the recognised standard nationally for assessment for general practice.

Services available at the centre include family planning, pap smears, ECGs, vaccinations, nutritional advice, skin checks, pre- employment medicals, audiometry, Centrelink and RTA medicals and smoking cessation support.

Allied health professionals visiting the centre include counsellors, podiatrist, physiotherapist, dietician, optometrist, paediatrician and women’s health doctor.