A NEW guide has been launched by a patients group to help people know where to turn when diagnosed with an illness.

The Friends of St. Mary’s Surgery Patient Participation Group (PPG) has spent months exploring the support groups available in Andover to come up with a handy guide so that if someone is diagnosed with a condition, they know where they can get support simply and quickly.

Kit Malthouse MP Launched the Friends of St. Mary’s PPG Guide and praised it as just what people and expressed his pride at the array of voluntary organisations in Andover.

The guide will be up loaded on the St. Mary’s Surgery website and there will be hard copies in the surgery while the West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group has also asked for a copy so it can forward it on to all the surgeries in West Hampshire and Mr Malthouse asked for a copy of the uploaded version so he can put it on his website.

Jill Hannington, chair of the Friends of St. Mary’s PPG, said: "It did take longer than expected as there are so many wonderful groups and organisations in Andover providing support, and in a lot of cases by volunteers. Many of the groups told us that they were so pleased that St. Mary’s PPG were doing a patient guide as they are always trying to make people aware of their support services.

"I am very proud of our team, the patients and volunteers who compiled all the information and the practice administrator."