The North East's health services are becoming more streamlined

The North East urgent care network is one of 8 medical health groups which will be transformed.

It's in an attempt to ease pressure on A and E departments while giving patients full access to advice and care when their GP's surgeries are closed.

The plans will give more prominence to the 111 phone service and will allow patients to be seen by the right specialists faster,

It's after reports show specific trauma care networks have increased odds of trauma patient survival by 50 percent.

Urgent care will be delivered, not just in hospitals but also by GPs, pharmacists, community teams, ambulance services, NHS 111, social care and others, and through patients being given support and education to manage their own conditions.

Another aim is to break down boundaries between physical and mental health to improve the quality of care and experience for all.

Participation by the North East Urgent Care Network (NEUCN) in the Vanguard Programme will benefit 2.71 million across the North East region.

Dr Stewart Findlay, Chair of the North East Urgent Care Network and Chief Clinical Officer of NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said;

"This is great news for patients in the North East. There is a lot of innovative work underway to improve urgent care through better integration of services, and vanguard status will enable us to move further and faster in spreading this good practice across the region.
 
"Last winter was a time of immense pressure for urgent care services across the UK, and this is an important step towards tackling the problems we have faced through new ways of working."