A Sussex treatment centre has been named as one of the best in the country.

In a report on the state of the health service, staff at Holbrook Surgery, Horsham, were singled out for praise for their excellent work.

NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp said new ways of working at the treatment centre had slashed waiting times and led to better, faster care for patients.

Dr Hwa-Lon Liu, a father of two, was particularly commended for his efforts at the centre.

The ear, nose and throat specialist, who started at the surgery in 1995, was credited with cutting waiting times for tonsillitis operations from 36 weeks to between two and four weeks.

This speedy treatment has helped Horsham and Chanctonbury Primary Care Trust deal faster with patients who are suffering more serious conditions.

Sir Nigel's performance review used the example of high quality work in Horsham to support his claim the NHS is getting better.

He also pointed to a series of statistics which showed more patients were getting fast treatment before their health deteriorated to a level requiring full inpatient hospital care.

He said: "This year we expect to see more excellent progress. The capacity to treat more patients is growing as more staff are appointed and new services and facilities come on line.

"We are making progress but we are still only three years into a ten-year programme of change. We still have a great deal to do."

The Department of Health also sought to reassure Sussex residents the county's lack of GPs was a problem it was tackling.

A spokesman for the department said new contracts for doctors and cash incentives currently in place would help to boost numbers.

According to the most recent official figures, Brighton and Hove, Adur, Arun and Worthing, Bexhill and Rother, Eastbourne Downs and Hastings and St Leonards Primary Care Trusts are in the grip of a GP recruitment crisis.

The PCT areas were classified as having a lack of doctors because there were fewer than 56 GPs for every 100,000 residents.