WHEN the 'Oscars' or their medical equivalent are being given out for the country's best doctors, new GP Dr Sean Burke will be hoping he will need his acceptance speech.

The salary locum doctor, who lives in the Colne area, has been shortlisted for the OnMedica GP Registrar Award in this year's Doctor and Hospital Doctor Awards.

Organised by the weekly medical newspaper Doctor, the award ceremony will take place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on November 22.

Dr Burke, 31, was nominated for an audit report he completed during his GP training at the Harambee Surgery in Trawden.

It was an assessment of suicide risk and follow-up care of patients who were started on anti-depressants for their depression.

The audit highlighted a number of areas in which the practice acted, including the increased awareness of the importance of suicide risk assessment and the inclusion of practice guidelines on depression within induction packs for new GPs, registrars and locums

Dr Burke finished his training to become a GP in August this year and now works for the Primary Care Trust in Keighley, Bingley and Ilkley.

He said: "There was a little advert in the Doctor magazine which asked 'Do you think your audit might be good enough for the award?' I wasn't sure so I just ignored it but my trainer thought it was a good audit so he suggested I should apply.

"The audit was just a routine thing I had to do. I was a bit surprised when I got shortlisted but very pleased because I had put a lot of work in it."

If Dr Burke, who has also worked at Burnley General Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary, wins the prize money of £3,000 he is hoping to use it for some kind of equipment for the training development of other trainees.

He said: "I haven't got a clue whether I will win it because I haven't seen what the other people have done and their audits will obviously be good too.

"I think it's nice just to be shortlisted."