PEOPLE living in the Okehampton area are to benefit from a change in the way healthcare is provided in the South West.
With the establishment of another 15 primary care trusts in April, including one in Mid Devon, doctors and nurses will have more control than ever before over the way the NHS develops.
Applications to place family GPs and nurses in the driving seat of primary care by creating the trusts have just been approved by ministers.
The Mid Devon PCT will cover a population of 102,000 and 20 GP practices including Okehampton, Chagford, North Tawton and Hatherleigh and will have:
l More say than ever before on how NHS money is spent — a typical PCT will control more than 80 per cent of the health spending on its local population.
l New powers to provide local health services such as community nursing, community hospitals and services for the elderly.
l The power to work with clinicians to determine how other services are provided and to enable more services to be delivered closer to patients
l New powers to work with local authorities to improve care of patients in the community.
Okehampton GP Paul Nielson said this week local doctors and nurses would be involved in the commissioning of services on behalf of the patients.
'As a primary care trust we will be able to commission services as well as provide them,' he said. 'The new Okehampton hospital will be owned by Mid Devon PCT rather than Exeter Community Health Trust which will close down from April 2001.
'As a result the care and management of care should be able to be delivered much closer to the patient and there will be closer working with Social Services.'