HEALTH chiefs are investing more than £5m extra over the next year to improve services in Sedgefield borough.

Sedgefield Primary Care Trust has a budget of about £100m to spend on health services in the borough,which includes the towns of Shildon and Spennymoor, during 2004-05.

This includes an additional £9m the trust has received this year which, after inflation and cost increases on existing services, leaves about £5m to expand existing and develop new services.

The trust has consulted with hospitals, the borough council, social services, community groups and patients, to decide how best to spend the additional money.

It has produced a local delivery plan which outlines how the money will be spent, including:

* £1.6m to improve health through effective prescribing

* £1.1m to improve access for patients to GP and nurse appointments, reduce hospital waiting times, improve A&E services and reduce delayed discharges of older people from hospitals

* £900,00 to improve mental health services

* £500,000 to improve out-of-hours and emergency care services and new GP services

* £300,000 to improve heart disease services

* £100,000 to expand cancer care services

Nigel Porter, chief executive of Sedgefield PCT, said: "Although we have not been able to tackle everything on our list for 2004-05, we have been able to identify a very significant level of investment in new or expanded services across the Sedgefield area.

"It is very important to Sedgefield PCT to take into consideration the views of local people in identifying how we spend our additional money this year.

"We have addressed some of their main concerns and national targets by investing £1.1m to improve access to services and make services more locally accessible."

He added: "We hope our local delivery plan will start to tackle some of the health service concerns that people have raised by improving and expanding the services that exist and through the development of new services.

To find out more about the work of the trust, members of the public are invited to the next board meeting in Spennymoor on Thursday, August 12, at 2pm. For a copy of the trust's local delivery plan, or to attend the board meeting, ring (0191) 301 3820, or log on to www.sedgefield-pct.nhs.uk