PATIENTS could opt to have their surgery or treatment from a choice of up to five hospitals in a proposed scheme aimed at giving Worcestershire people a voice on how their health service is run.

Patients Choice is a national Government initiative that could be introduced in Worcestershire within the next two years.

Under the scheme, patients could expect shorter waiting lists and be offered a chance to be treated at a different hospital than originally planned if they have not received treatment after a six-month wait.

The South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust is in the process of consultation over the scheme, which is due to end this month.

At a board meeting of the SWPCT last week, members of the trust were given a run-down on the impact Patients Choice could have on the way hospitals are run in the county.

Gillian Goodlad, director of modernisation and primary care for the SWPTC, said: "The philosophy of the initiative is that patients are active citizens and should be involved in decisions about their healthcare.

"The NHS should provide services that are responsive to patients needs, as well as their desires and the idea is that they should have a say in how and where their condition is treated.

"The aims of the initiative would be to ensure excellent local services, making them the patient's first choice and to make information simple, and available in a variety of settings or formats."

The scheme hopes to particularly improve health care choice for children, the elderly, the mentally ill and those needing maternity care and it will be piloted by ophthalmology and orthopaedic patients at PCTs across Worcestershire from next April.

For more information about Patients Choice or to express your opinion, log onto www.swpct.nhs.uk