Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid a visit to a GP centre in Southmead today, which he said would set an example for the whole of the country to follow.

Mr Brown arrived at the Greenway Community Practice in Doncaster Road at 9am, the first of a number of appointments in the city.

He was welcomed by staff and patients at the £2.5M centre, which opened in July last year and was billed as a doctors surgery fit for the 21st century.

Speaking to The Post, the Prime Minister said he was very impressed by Greenway, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

He said: "This is an amazing centre, to be able to offer people care all day and at the weekend.

"People will learn about this from Bristol, this is a path maker."

The centre has a patient list of 6,000 people in the Henleaze, Westbury-on-Trym and Southmead areas, is run by four partners who employ two doctors and 30 staff.

Greenway was created after two surgeries, the Lake Surgery on Southmead Road, Henleaze, and the other at Southmead Health Centre, Ullswater Road, were merged.

It has been used as the blueprint for an improved booking system.

The reception is open from 8am to 7pm and does not close for lunch, so there is more time available to make appointments.

In urgent cases patients can opt for a "can't wait" appointment on the same day or next day if they can't wait for the usual 48 hours.

The centre serves a training practice for junior doctors and offers a range of other services including counselling, sexual health advice for young people, minor surgery and cervical screening.

The 24 coverage is operated by Frendoc, an out of hours GP service for parts of North Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Dr Rick Hoffman is a senior partner at Greenway, who felt the ministerial visit went well.

He said: "I was really encouraged by what he said about the integrated service.

"We are unique in that we are on a community site.

"I hope that we will be an example for family GPs in a modern setting."

The Prime Minister spoke to a number of Southmead families who were waiting to be seen by doctors that morning.

One of them was Hayley Parsons, 28, and her two children Mason, two, and Amana, eight.

She said: "He was very down to earth, which I didn't expect.

"He talked to my daughter who said she was off to see Bristol City today, but I said we support the other team."

Amanda said: "I was a bit scared at first, he was really nice though.

"I was really astonished."