Patients will be given the chance to receive medical training

Patients with a long-term medical condition are being asked to contribute their expertise to a health care trust in Teesside.

Langbaurgh Primary Care Trust (PCT) is seeking more local people to become expert patients, and to pass their expertise on to fellow sufferers.

They will help deliver a national scheme developed by the Department of Health, which offers courses to help people cope with their long-term conditions or illnesses.

These include arthritis, asthma, back pain, diabetes, heart conditions, multiple sclerosis, mental health issues and many others.

The course has been designed to run alongside medical treatments, and benefits can include a reduction in symptoms, less pain, greater self confidence and a better quality of life.

The free programme will help patients find information, develop problem solving skills, communicate with health professionals and cope with depression and their own pain management.

'Extremely pleased'

They will be led by other people with long-term conditions or experience of caring.

Volunteers will be recruited and given the opportunity to receive accredited training, to enable them to deliver self-management courses to others in similar circumstances.

Christine Bound, Service Improvement Manager for Langbaurgh PCT, said: "Our first course, which ran throughout July, was fully subscribed for the Guisborough area and we were extremely pleased to see such a wonderful turn out."

The second Expert Patient Programme is due to start in early September in the Redcar area.