GP practices have been heralded for their ground-breaking work in seeing a borough with the highest rate of heart failure in the region achieve the lowest rate of cardiac-related hospital admissions.

NHS figures have revealed while 112 in every 100,000 residents in Darlington were admitted to hospital with heart failure, in neighbouring NHS Hartlepool and Stockton this figure stood at 189 per 100,000 residents.

However, as well as heart failure prevalence being almost twice in Darlington of that in the South Tees CCG area, Darlington also has one of the lowest mortality rates in the region.

Professor Ahmet Fuat, who has been a GP in Darlington for 33 years, said the high incidence of heart failure in Darlington showed it was being identified better than in other areas.

Prof Fuat, the chairman of Darlington Primary Care Network’s governing body, said the borough was reaping the rewards of the first one stop diagnostic and integrated heart failure clinic in the UK that he set up with Professor Jerry Murphy and nurse Vikki Duffy 17 years ago.

He said: “We diagnose better, treat better and this avoids admissions more and reduces mortality.

“I believe this is all down to the hard work we have undertaken over the past few years in primary care in Darlington. I am very proud of what we have achieved as a community, federation and primary care network going forward and would like to thank each and every member of staff in our brilliant GP practices for your support in getting us to one of the healthiest positions of any clinical commissioning groups in the UK in cardio-vascular disease care.”

Dr Fuat said more action was needed to tackle hypertension, smoking cessation, identification of family cholesterol, detection of the commonest heart rhythm disorder and encouraging exercise and healthy eating and that council-backed public health initiatives would help.

He said: “We should be all working together – primary care, secondary care, the borough council, public health, third sector and patient groups.”

Dr Fuat said cardio-vascular disease remained the biggest cause of premature deaths in the UK, and the biggest clinical driver of health inequalities.

The progress also follows County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust appointing a heart failure nurse consultant last year to assess people who may have heart failure and supporting them to manage their condition.

Councillor Chris McEwan, who is a lay member of the primary care network’s governing body, welcomed the progress the borough’s 11 GP practices had made in tackling the disease.

He said public health initiatives were needed to cement and further the advances, adding: “We need to think more broadly. Clearly the work being done in primary care in Darlington is having an impact. It is helping reduce health inequalities.”