A Keighley surgery will be the first in the country to provide a revolutionary electronic prescription service.

Ling House Medical Centre and its Co-operative Group Pharmacy, in Scott Street, is the first GP surgery and chemist in England to use the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) service.

The new electronic prescription will make it easier for patients to collect their medicines and for GPs to issue prescriptions.

John Makepeace, general manager of the Co-op Pharmacy, said: "We are delighted that Keighley is playing a key role in this groundbreaking project. ETP will benefit patients, GPs and pharmacists as an integral part of future service developments in community pharmacy."

The medical centre, which has about 10,000 patients on its books, is the first site to go live with the service before it is rolled-out across the country.

ETP will allow prescriptions generated by GPs and other prescribers to be transferred electronically to a pharmacy nominated by the patient.

It is hoped to save time, increase patient safety by reducing prescription errors and provide better information at the point of prescribing and dispensing. The costs of managing the payment for prescriptions will also be reduced.

The pilot scheme at Ling House, which has nine GPs and a registrar, is aimed at proving the technical stability of the system. This will ensure that the benefits of the service are maximised and lessons can be learned before it is rolled-out nationally.

Dr Gordon Cunliffe, of Ling House, said: "It is important to remember that this phase of the electronic prescription service is aimed at making sure it works effectively."

For the time being patients would not notice any change in the way they collected their medication, he said.