SPECIALIST advisors based in GP surgeries have helped more than 200 people boost their income and deal with debts in the last two years.

A pilot programme run by York CAB set up advice sessions in two city doctors’ surgeries, and advisors say the approach meant they could help “hard to reach” people, and ease the pressure on GPs.

The programme was funded by City of York Council’s Financial Inclusion Steering Group, and now that funding has run out, organisers at York CAB are looking for more grants to make sure they can carry on.

Jasmine Howard works for York CVS which was a partner in the trial, and ran some of the advice sessions.

She said: “We found we were able to reach the hardest to reach people - people whose only means of support is their doctor.

“Being able to see people in the GP setting inspires confidence, and it helps that people have been referred by their doctor, someone they already trust.”

CAB’s own evaluation report shows they have helped 255 different people over the two year period. Most people came to the advisors for help with benefits of tax credits, or debt.

Some 70 per cent said the advisors had completely or partially sorted out their problems, and the service also had strong feedback from the medics who sent patients to the advisors.

Staff at the two Priory Medical Group surgeries told the CAB the service had made a “huge difference”. One said that instead of spending a long time with a GP who could not solve the problem, patients could instead be passed on to a specialist.

A spokesman for the city council’s FISG said it had given out £180,000 in the last two years, and last month a budget of £150,000 for the next two years was confirmed.

He added: “We are looking at how this can be allocated and will be announcing more details soon.”