Forty-three per cent of the practice's appointments are now booked online, with more than 1,600 appointments booked in one month alone.

January 2006: Do-It-Yourself GP appointment booking proves a hit with Sheffield students

Queuing on the phone to get a doctor's appointment is fast becoming a thing of the past for internet-savvy students in Sheffield.

Thousands of patients at the University of Sheffield University Health Service are using EMIS Access, the ground-breaking new service that allows them to book a doctor's appointment over the internet, 24 hours a day.

The free service - developed by EMIS - has proved so popular that the University health centre, serving 20,000 patients, is now the UK's biggest user of the system. Forty-three per cent of the practice's appointments are now booked online, with more than 1,600 appointments booked in one month alone.

Student friendly system

Practice manager Christine Franklin said the EMIS Access service was ideally suited to students and their families - offering them the flexibility to book or cancel appointments 24 hours a day without having to keep to surgery hours. Patients access the service via a website, using a unique PIN number, and the system is synchronised to ensure appointments are updated in real time.

Christine said: "This service has tremendous advantages for patients. For example, one of the young mums had a baby that had been crying through the night; she just went on the computer and made an appointment for 9am the next day. She told the doctor it was such a relief to be able to do that.

"It has been an absolute boon for the surgery as well - helping to take pressure off a very busy telephone system and freeing up staff time."

Sean Riddell, Deputy Managing Director of Leeds-based EMIS, said: "The beauty of this system is that it puts the patient in the driving seat and by doing so saves both the patient and the surgery valuable time. I'm not surprised that students have been quick to see the benefits, as the service fits in perfectly with a busy lifestyle and irregular hours."

UK's most active EMIS Access practice

Christine was surprised but delighted to learn that the University health centre is the UK's biggest user of the system. She said: "We are very progressive. We have a well-motivated staff and a clientele that is quite IT-savvy, which helps."

The health centre is hoping to extend the online service in the future to include appointment booking via interactive digital television - a pilot scheme that is taking place at practices across South Yorkshire.

The software behind the EMIS Access service - the first and only one of its kind in the UK - was developed by EMIS at its Leeds headquarters and rolled out nationally in 2004. The system is now being actively used by almost 500 GP surgeries nationwide, representing almost three million patients, and has already won a major national award for innovation in healthcare.