Health leaders in Southport, Formby and West Lancashire have been listening to the views of patients, staff and the public about their views and experiences of local health and care services over the last two months and have learned a great deal about what works well and what could be improved.

Shaping Care Together is led by a partnership of NHS organisations; Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, NHS Southport and Formby CCG and NHS West Lancashire CCG. These organisations are working together to look at the challenges currently faced by health and care in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial pressures and the growing demand for NHS services in and out of hospital.

Trish Armstrong-Child, chief executive officer of Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, said: "Over the last eight weeks we have been inviting people to share their feedback through online events, surveys and conversations and I have been delighted by the positive things people have said about the NHS staff who work so hard and the services they have delivered in these challenging times.

"However, we have also heard about the things we can build on to make sure that health and care meets our needs now and into the future."

Early findings from the review reveal that people wanted to give feedback about their GP practice, hospital and community based services. There have been many positive experiences of online consultations with GPs and hospital care but some expressed concerns that they don’t want this to become normalised in the future. There was overwhelming goodwill towards the NHS and the work being done to address the pandemic.

Of the surveys completed, alongside online discussion groups and one to one telephone interviews many people talked about the importance of placing the patient at the centre of service delivery and that services need to be planned around the patient journey.

A recurring theme was the need to support people to prevent ill health and to help them to manage their conditions. There was felt to be room for improvement in the differences in care across the geography and that the hospital buildings had seen better days. Participants did however recognise the funding challenges facing the NHS.

The programme will now look at the things people said in more depth whilst the local elections take place and will then start to develop potential solutions to areas for improvement identified by local people and clinicians.

Trish Armstrong-Child added: "I would like to thank everyone who has given up their time so far to have a say and in particular, I would like to thank partners in the community and voluntary sector who have helped us to reach some marginalised and vulnerable people and allowed them to have a voice. It is vital that we continue to work with people who use our services to shape care alongside clinicians and professionals."

The survey is still open and there are reply paid forms available at the vaccination centres so it’s not too late to get involved.

To take part, visit the interactive engagement site www.yoursayshapingcaretogether.co.uk. If you would prefer to speak to someone or require information in a different format or language, please call 01695 588025.