Health leaders in Southport, Formby and West Lancashire are inviting people to share their views and experiences of local healthcare by getting involved with Shaping Care Together, a programme of work designed to improve hospital services.

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.

Like NHS services across the country, our local hospitals face significant challenges. Some have been with us for years while the urgency of others has been made clear during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We need to redefine how we provide hospital services, help people use them only when they need them, and ensure those services are safe, sustainable and high quality.

Shaping Care Together aims to do just that – shape, develop and improve future services for everyone, based on feedback from the patients, carers and staff who use and deliver those services.

Whilst many improvements have already been made, Shaping Care Together will look at services across the whole area, and ensure they are joined up, efficient and fit for the future.

Views are being sought on what currently works well at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals as well as in primary and community healthcare services and in particular, what steps should be taken to improve the following:

• frail and elderly care
• when you have an urgent or emergency care need
• services for children including those who have complex needs
• services for women who are pregnant and for the new-born
• gynaecology - dealing with women’s reproductive system
• sexual health services for all genders
• planned care, such as follow-up outpatient and/or subsequent admissions as part of ongoing treatment.

How to get involved

This programme will last throughout 2021 and there will be many opportunities for local people to have their say. It is important to stress that no decisions have been made and we are seeking views which will inform our thinking and proposals for change.

To complete the survey, click here. You can find out more about the programme on the dedicated website: www.yoursayshapingcaretogether.co.uk and over the coming months there will be lots of different ways for people to get involved. Details of further events will be announced soon.

People who do not feel comfortable using the internet can call 01695 588025 to receive paper copies of a questionnaire.

Shaping Care Together: Dr Rob Caudwell, Chair, NHS Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group

Chief Executive Trish Armstrong-Child outlines Shaping Care Together