A MEETING being held in Kidderminster next month will give people the opportunity to have their say over the future of the NHS in the West Midlands.
Comments on proposals to reduce the number of strategic health authorities - SHAs - ambulance trusts and primary care trusts are being invited at the meeting, at Kidderminster Town Hall, on Wednesday, February 8, beginning at 6.30pm.
The exercise is being carried out by the West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority, in a series of public meetings between January and March.
The Secretary of State for Health approved the proposals following the publication of "Commissioning a Patient-led NHS", a national document that asked all strategic health authorities to carry out an assessment of all NHS organisations, focusing on a change in the way services were commissioned to reflect patient choices.
The new approach will require primary care trusts - PCTs - to focus more on commissioning of services and much less on providing and managing community and primary care services.
Proposals include forming one West Midlands-wide SHA to replace the existing three, having a new PCT structure for Worcester-shire and Warwickshire and forming one ambulance trust for the West Midlands.
People can register their views at Kidderminster Town Hall from 3pm onwards on February 8.
The consultation runs for 14 weeks, ending on Wednesday, March 22.
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