ALL GP surgeries in Brighton and Hove will soon benefit from a service aimed at helping to improve the wellbeing of patients.

Practices can refer isolated patients to the scheme so they can get help and support and get access to the services and groups they want and need.

The service, run by Brighton and Hove-based charity Impetus, was established as a pilot project in August 2014 for some surgeries but now it is being expanded to cover the whole city.

It is funded and supported by the Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group.

An evaluation of the pilot found there was 98 per cent patient satisfaction with the service and patients felt listened to and understood.

About 95 per cent of GPs and practice staff reported the service was effective at providing a referral route to non-medical services and 87 per cent said it was effective at improving the wellbeing of patients.

The project has supported more than 900 people so far.

About half of these were more than 65, and many experienced social isolation or anxieties about their wellbeing in general.

Two service co-ordinators work with the person to identify what they need.

Community navigators, who are trained volunteers,

then support the person to access the right local groups and services.

Volunteer Chrissie Valentine has been with the scheme for almost three years and supported more than 120 people.

Among the people she has worked with are an elderly couple who have been married for 60 years.

The wife experiences memory loss and the husband needed support support in his caring role but didn’t know what services were available.

Mrs Valentine helped the couple access social services who provided a carer and gave them information about the Alzheimer’s Society.

She also referred the couple to Crossroads Care who arranged for a volunteer to regularly sit with the wife so the husband could go out without worrying.

He was also put in touch with the Carers Centre so he could meet and share experiences with others in similar situations to his.

Over time, these small things made a big difference to them both.

Mrs Valentine said: “They were a delightful couple to work with.

“For me, this case, like many others, was humbling and rewarding in equal measure.”

The husband said he “really valued” Chrissie listening to him as well as opening the doors to services he had no idea existed.”