PEOPLE around the country are now just a fingertip away from vital health information -- following a new initiative piloted in Chorley.

The successful NHS Direct telephone helpline has been extended nationwide, enabling the public to receive advice from a qualified nurse.

The pilot scheme in Chorley, Preston and South Ribble has grown dramatically and quickly.

Initially 325,000 people in the areas were able to access the service.

Now more than three million people in the North West can contact the call centre at ambulance headquarters at Broughton, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, either for information concerning health matters or, if necessary, to discuss their problems with a nurse.

David Hill, chief executive of Lancashire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, the lead provider of the service locally, said: "I am proud to have been associated with this service.

"When we were appointed as one of the first pilot sites, it was on the basis of a two-year trial.

"The Government quickly recognised the massive potential of the scheme and decided to expand the service to the whole country.

"Our own pilot scheme has now grown tenfold since those early days and now covers the whole of Lancashire, Cumbria and North Merseyside, bringing the service to over three million people. It is very reassuring to get good feedback from those who have used the service which is a key feature of modernising the health service."

An equally proud Jill Stringer, director of NHS Direct, Lancashire, and also the Department of Health's nurse adviser nationally on the helpline, said: "I have been involved in the growth of NHS Direct from the outset and the more I see of it and the commitment and care of the nurses who help patients, the more convinced I am that NHS Direct will be a major linchpin in developing NHS services."

People can dial the helpline on 0845 4647.