Since enrolling on an Expert Patient Programme, Norman Weston has never looked back, he tells Barry Nelson.

NORMAN Weston's distinguished career as a forensic scientist was brought to an untimely end by serious illness. Within a few years of developing joint problems, Norman was forced to retire from his position with Durham police. His osteoarthritis has dramatically curtailed what he is able to do on his own, leaving him heavily dependent on his wife Sue, 51. While the Wolsingham couple are educated, professional people, both say they have learned a great deal after completing a new kind of course for patients and their carers, the Expert Patient Programme.

Across the region, more and more patients with long-term conditions such as arthritis, asthma, back pain, diabetes, heart conditions, multiple sclerois and mental health problems are being asked to take part in such programmes. The idea is to enrol a small group of patients and carers on a six week course, with weekly sessions lasting a couple of hours, to make them feel more confident about managing their long-term illness and getting more out of the NHS. It also helps them to find out how to get the information they need.

Norman, 68, says he felt a bit like a guinea pig when the course began in the Dales centre in Stanhope but reckons he has definitely benefited from the experience. "It makes you think about your limitations and the need to live within them while always trying to push the boundaries back," says Norman, who has had both hips and a knee replaced in the course of his illness.

Sue, who shared her husband's close links with crime-fighting as a former head of the police fingerprinting training service until she gave up work to look after him, says the other members of the group, consisting of eight patients and two carers, provided an interesting cross section of people. "It became clear early on that the idea of setting achievable goals was important. If you have chronic back pain don't say you are going to paint the kitchen ceiling, go for the part of the kitchen wall you can reach and get somebody else to do the hard bits."

Using a specially developed manual, the group was taken through a series of subjects, covering areas such as exercise for flexibility and endurance and taking control and managing symptoms.

Sue was fascinated as other members of the group began to react positively to the gentle coaching. "One man had become terribly isolated and had stopped going out with his friends. Over the six weeks, he gradually opened up," says Sue.

Each of the group members was encouraged to share their experiences with each other and even exchange phone numbers. "People began sharing quite intimate information. It showed that people were feeling that they were no longer alone in the world. That was probably the biggest boost for some people," she adds.

The same man triumphantly returned to the group mid-way through the course to say he had walked to his local social club with friends for the first time for years and gone for a drink with them. "He was thrilled to bits," says Sue.

As part of the course, the group members were also told how to get more information about NHS services and to be wary of the Internet unless reputable sites were being visited. "There is a tremendous amount of help available out there but people often don't know how to access it," says Norman, who is now aware that the Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) attached to each NHS trust is the best place to start with inquiries.

* For more information about enrolling on an Expert Patient Programme, contact your local Primary Care Trust. Anyone living in the area covered by Durham Dales Primary Care Trust can get more information by ringing Katherine Humby on (01388) 458835.