500 respond to health survey

MORE than 500 responses have been received to a far reaching consultation in support of Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s bid for Foundation Trust status.
The organisation, which provides a wide range of community health services in Warrington, including district nursing, wheelchair services, physiotherapy and podiatry has made public the responses it received from patients and public during the exercise.
They can be seen at the website www.bridgewater.nhs.uk
The document details how the organisation will be supported by members and governors should it secure FT status and what its priorities will be in the future.
During the consultation period the organisation addressed 12 public meetings across Warrington, Ashton, Leigh, Wigan, Halton, St Helens and Trafford.
In addition it attended a range of public events and distributed more than 6,500 public consultation documents.
Chief executive Dr Kate Fallon (pictured) said:
“We were delighted by the public’s response to our consultation. We received over 500 written responses which gave us a great insight into peoples’ view on our services and our Trust.
“As a direct response to the feedback we have made some changes to our constitution and have addressed many of the issues and concerns raised.
“We have always said that one of the main drivers behind our bid for FT status is that the membership model provides us with a very real opportunity to engage and involve our patients, their families, carers and members of the public in the future development of services.
“We have already recruited more than 5,000 public members representing communities across the whole of the Bridgewater footprint and have ambitions to recruit even more.”
Anyone interested in becoming a member of Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust should visit www.bridgewater.nhs.uk or email [email protected] or telephone 01942 482672.