DEATH rates in a North-East health blackspot could be more than halved by a new approach to managing patients, it has been revealed.

Family doctors in Easington, east Durham, have pioneered a scheme which has already reduced heart deaths by a quarter. An estimated 39 lives have been saved in its first two years.

However, doctors believe that they are making even bigger inroads into preventable heart deaths.

The scheme is now being rolled out to other parts of the region - potentially saving hundreds of lives.

The key is simple changes to the way GP surgeries operate, such as keeping an accurate register of heart patients, making sure they have regular checks and ensuring they take their medication.

Since the National Primary Care Collaborative heart disease project began in late 1999, the number of heart deaths in Easington has fallen dramatically.

With the scheme well into its third year, GPs are hoping that death rates could fall in line with the first project in Cheshire, which has achieved close to a 60 per cent reduction in heart disease deaths after four and a half years.

Dr Roger Bolas, chief executive of Easington Primary Care Trust (PCT), said: "We never expected anything like this in terms of the outcome. It is wonderful. We have got the second biggest fall in heart deaths in England."

The progress is all the more remarkable because Easington has one of the worst health records in the country.

With one in four deaths there attributed to heart disease, GPs in the areas jumped at the chance to join the first wave of the pilot scheme.

Based on an approach which has proved enormously successful in North America, Australia and Sweden it has paid off spectacularly.

In the first year, five practices in the Easington area took part, in year two they were joined by another six and now 17 out of 18 practices are taking part.

Ruth Hill, northern region lead manager of the scheme, said the plan was to roll it out to more practices. "The results so far have been absolutely amazing," she said.

Currently, four GP practices from all 13 PCTS from Northumberland down to Scarborough, in North Yorkshire are signed up to the scheme with that number expected to double in the next four months.