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

Sedgefield Primary Care Trust (PCT) has a budget of £100m to spend on health services in the borough in 2004 to 2005.

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

The trust has spent the past few months consulting hospitals, the borough council, social services, community groups and patients, to decide on the best way to spend the additional money.

It has produced a local delivery plan that outlines how the money will be used.

The plan includes £1.6m to improve health through effective prescribing.

A further £1.1m will be spent improving access for patients to GP and nurse appointments, reducing hospital waiting times, improving accident and emergency services, and reducing delayed discharges of older people from hospitals.

A total of £900,000 will be spent on improving mental health services, plus £500,000 to improve out-of-hours and emergency care services, and new GP services.

In addition, £300,000 will be used to improve coronary heart disease services, and £100,000 to expand cancer services.

Nigel Porter, chief executive of the Sedgefield trust, said: "Although we have not been able to tackle everything on our list for 2004 to 2005, 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 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."

For a copy of the plan, or to attend the next board meeting, telephone 0191-301 3820, or log on to the website at www.sedgefield-pct.nhs.uk.