HEALTH MATTERS

JANE Stephens, lay member for public and patient involvement at NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG HEALTHVOICE attendees use their experience of healthcare to advise the CCG on how it spends more than £280m each year on services including general practice, hospital and community care, mental health, emergency ambulances and patient transport services.

HealthVoice meets every eight weeks in venues across Eastern Cheshire and is attended by people from all walks of life. Participants have played an important role in helping the CCG improve services. For example, the views of attendees influenced the CCG’s plans to redesign hospital-based stroke services – which are now rated the best in England.

Join me at the next meeting which is at Macclesfield Town Hall on Tuesday, 10 April, from 6.30pm to 9pm. There will be an opportunity to find out about the current consultation on proposals to redesign specialist mental health services in Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire and Vale Royal.

You will be provided with information about the options which have been presented to the public, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions. There will also be a chance to hear East Cheshire Mental Health Forum’s views on the consultation.

For more information about the consultation go to easterncheshireccg. nhs.uk/.

HealthVoice isn’t a membership organisation and is open to all.

Being part of HealthVoice will give you a chance to:

Understand why decisions are made about health services.

Influence local health decisions through representation on CCG working parties, committees and project teams.

Share your experiences of local health services.

Hold the CCG to account as a member of the public.

Meetings focus on four key areas: finance, primary care, the joining up of health and social care services, and monitoring the performance of service providers.

Volunteers meet regularly with CCG staff to discuss these issues.

Plans for HealthVoice this year include conducting a survey of East Cheshire people to find out how much they know about HealthVoice and its work to influence availability and performance of health services. Attendees will use findings to review their plans. And HealthVoice is talking to young people about how they would like to get involved in shaping healthcare.

If there’s an issue you’d like to have discussed at a HealthVoice meeting, email CCG engagement and participation officer Julia Hulland-Vernon via Julia.hulland-vernon@ nhs.net.

For more information, visit www.echealthvoice. info.