NHS GLOUCESTERSHIRE Clinical Commissioning Group has promised a ‘positive and inclusive’ approach to working with partners and the public as a review of community health and care services in the district got underway this month.

A locality stakeholder reference group, representing a wide range of interests in the Forest of Dean held its first meeting on Friday, in Coleford, to discuss ways of working.

Director of Transformation and Service Redesign at NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, Ellen Rule, said: “This is about developing a plan for high quality and affordable community health and care services with Forest of Dean residents, which meets their needs now and in the future.

This is similar to work that has been going on in other localities across Gloucestershire.

The project will be guided and influenced by the Forest of Dean locality stakeholder reference group and the plan will be developed with patients, the public, staff and our key partners.

This was said to have been a positive first meeting where the group began to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities for health services and community support in the Forest of Dean and across Gloucestershire.

The next phase of the project will be to develop a full understanding of the anticipated demand for care and services in to the future based on things like population growth and people’s health.

This, the group says, will help to inform what services are needed and how best to provide them.

Work on the needs assessment, resources and what services could look like is projected to be complete by early 2016.

All this needs to happen before an assessment can be made of where best to provide these services from and what facilities are needed.

Ellen Rule said: “Engagement and communication will be a key feature of the project, starting with the needs assessment.

“The locality reference group will help decide the best ways of reaching out to all sections of the community and ensuring effective and timely communication and engagement.

“What we have already agreed as a group is that we are keen to progress the review in the right way and if we need longer to consider and engage

on important information then we will take it.”

As well as staff and community engagement throughout the life time of the project, there is a commitment to a full consultation on any proposals from spring/summer next year.