The authors of this report present the quantitative findings from a large-scale randomised-controlled trial which may be known to some readers as the ProCEED trial (Proactive Care and its Evaluation in Enduring Depression).

A qualitative paper involving interviews with nurses who took part in the trial has already been published (Bennett et al., 2013) and ideally should be read alongside this paper, as it provides useful information to help interpret the quantitative outcomes.

The aim of the study was to see if proactive nurse care helped to reduce either the severity or the number of relapses (or both) experienced by people with recurrent and/or chronic depression over a two year period, in comparison with usual access to a GP.