A PILOT scheme set up by family doctors has prevented 16 people taking their own lives or self-harming in a small town in just 12 months.

The project involves three GP practices in Newton Aycliffe with a combined population of 30,000 people and gives patients rapid access to a community psychiatric nurse (CPN).

Normally there would be some delay before a patient referred by their GP could see a CPN but the pilot scheme employs three specialist nurses so patients are seen very quickly.

The pilot was set up by the South Durham Health Community Interest Company (CIC), a not-for-profit federation which brings together 70 GPs in 24 practices across Sedgefield and Easington.

One of the aims of the South Durham Health CIC is to improve services for patients and provides mutual support to smaller practices.

Dr Robert McKinty, chairman of South Durham Health CIC, said the mental health pilot, which has been running for 12 months, was a good example of how the federation could come up with new and better ways of providing services.

“The pilot allowed the three GP practices in Newton Aycliffe to take on two very experienced community psychiatric nurses. Our referrals now go directly to our CPN,” he added.

Dr McKinty said an evaluation of the scheme, carried out after six months, found that CPNs had picked up nine “near-misses”, where patients were prevented from taking their own lives or harming themselves.

After 12 months this figure had grown to 16 near-misses.

The pilot, which has recently been extended into Easington, Blackhall and Wheatley Hill in East Durham, was set up by using ‘transformation funds’, NHS money set aside to pay for innovative schemes.

The initial fund runs out on March 12 but the federation have been able to tap into a separate pot of NHS funding to keep it going.

Dr McKinty said the federation had put in a bid for a share in the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund, another central pot of money earmarked for promising projects.

“We have got a very ambitious bid in which, if successful, will allow the mental health project to expand,” he added.

The cash is also needed to extend Saturday morning opening hours at GP surgeries, which has proved very popular with patients and reduced the number of people visiting an accident and emergency department.