NURSES' ideas on improving patients' experiences in hospital are being promoted in a good practice guide.

More than 50 ideas from senior nurses at the University Hospital of North Durham, ranging from simple information leaflets to nurses taking on extra training to undertake junior doctors' work, are being released to colleagues throughout North Durham Health Care NHS Trust in a quarterly good practice report.

Four nurses from the Durham City hospital's medical admissions ward have already attended a clinical skills training course, so that they can take on some junior doctors' diagnostic roles, allowing patients to be seen and treated more quickly.

Meanwhile, in the hospital's accident and emergency department, new guidelines have been introduced for assessing patients and reviews of patient tracking procedures.

In the intensive therapy unit, information for visitors and a facility for them to provide comments have been introduced.

Steve Mason, chief executive of the health care trust, said: "There are many good ideas being put into practice on the wards of University Hospital on a daily basis and it is nice for us to be able to highlight some of them.

"Our nurses know exactly what will help improve the experiences of our patients and their families and we are more than happy to develop those ideas into trust policy wherever possible."