Primary health care services in Airedale have been given a clean bill of health following a visit from independent reviewers.

The glowing report to Airedale Primary Care Trust comes after detailed assessments by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI).

The routine inspections -- known as clinical governance reviews -- are part of a rolling programme, which will eventually see the CHI visiting every NHS trust and primary care trust in the country.

A team of specially trained clinicians, managers and lay people visited Airedale PCT for a week last March to consider a wealth of information about health in the area. They interviewed 103 health staff and met with patients and other organisations.

Several areas of good practice were identified, which other PCTs will be urged to follow.

Singled out for praise were an electronic system, created in partnership with Airedale NHS Trust and GPs, to improve care for people with diabetes; an innovative project, developed with social services, to ensure the needs of carers are met; a wide range of 40 novel schemes to help people develop healthy lifestyles and tackle the root cause of ill health; the development of a questionnaire, which helps nurses find out more about the health needs of people living in the community; and an extensive network of services to support patients with incontinence.

Inspectors said staff were friendly and welcoming and there was evidence of a strong commitment to developing services to meet the needs of local people.

They praised the PCT's efforts to make it as easy as possible for all patients to access services.

And they commented on the staff's commitment to involving patients, carers and the public in shaping services to meet the needs of the community through a range of forums, workshops, drop-in clinics and patient satisfaction surveys. Airedale PCT chairman Liz Wolstenholme said: "We are extremely pleased that an independent body has formally recognised the dedication of our staff to improving the quality of health and well-being of the people of Airedale."

Chief executive Kevin Ellis said: "We are delighted to receive such a positive report and welcome the opportunity for external scrutiny, as it helps us to improve our services for the people we serve."

The PCT has already drawn up an action plan to address areas identified as being in need of improvement.

Key recommendations from the CHI include putting into place mechanisms to learn from all incidents, near misses and complaints; to carry out further work to integrate dentists, optometrists and pharmacists into the PCT; to develop strategies to learn from audits and make sure there are consistently high standards of clinical effectiveness across the PCT; and to evaluate the roles and responsibilities of senior staff.