Darlington is on the brink of terminating long waits for GP appointments, the D&S Times can reveal.

A bid for money to pilot a revolutionary system using trained nurses to act as the first point of patient contact, has been submitted to County Durham and Darlington health authority.

Instead of waiting up to three weeks for a GP appointment, triage nurses will assess a patient's condition and direct him or her to the best and quickest treatment available.

Patients who still need to see a GP will have access to their doctor either on the same day or within 24 hours.

The new system, to be piloted by Darlington primary care group in three practices, aims to cope with the increasing demand placed on the borough's 12 GP surgeries.

Three of the town's busiest practices to have expressed an interest are Denmark Street, Whinfield, and Carmel.

Working within national guidelines, the pilot is expected to be the forerunner for an entirely new GP system.

Mrs Liz Graham, clinical governance co-ordinator for Darlington PCG, believed the nurse triage system would benefit everyone.

She told the D&S Times: "Demand for GP appointments has never been higher in Darlington. Sometimes surgeries have a three-week waiting list for both the nurse and the doctor.

"Everything from a cut finger to a chronic ailment passes through a doctor's surgery but not all need to see a GP.

"Nurse triage will provide a one-stop face-to-face consultation with a health care professional to enable a patient to receive the best treatment quicker.

"Patients who are in urgent need of seeing a doctor on the same day will be guaranteed an appointment."

Nurse triage has been operating successfully in North Tyneside for three years. It is also seen as a pre-cursor to a local NHS Direct service.

Miss Linda Read, Darlington PCG chief executive, said: "We need to triage in primary care before NHS Direct can operate to its capacity.

"In the future, we would expect local nurse triage services to be contracted to NHS Direct to help it meet demand.

"The benefits to patients and doctors is phenomenal. It will free up GP time so they can have more meaningful consultations with their patients while patients who urgently need to see their doctor can do so the same day."

The first step took place in July when nurse representatives, GPs, practice staff and primary care managers met at the PCG offices in Valley Street.

Miss Read added: "It is part of the vision of the new primary care trust to support general practice, reduce waiting times and offer a one-stop first-class service to all patients."