Western Trust asks service users- "What do you think?"
22/03/2012
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Service users and carers have been offered a greater say on the future provision of Primary Care and Older Peoples Services across the Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) area through a series of service user workshops held in Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh.
These workshops gave service users and carers the opportunity to give feedback and ideas on a whole range of health and social care services including homecare, community meals, support for carers, occupational therapy and community nursing.
Service users now play an increasingly important role in efforts to improve health and social care services. The Western Trust through these workshops wishes to empower service users and reflect a shared commitment to developing health and social care services in partnership with those that use it.
“The good thing about going out and speaking to people who use our services every day is that they know it best and how it can be made better,” says Vincent Ryan, Assistant Director of Primary and Community Care for the Western Trust.
“If a service user or carer has had a good or bad experience we can learn from that experience to help improve the service. We also value feedback on what is working well so that this good practice is not lost and can be consolidated for others to benefit from it.”
He continued: “The personal experience and feedback from those who were invited and made the effort to attend and input into the workshops has been recorded and will now be used to inform the Western Trust when raising awareness about important issues related to Primary Care and Older Peoples Services, developing services provided and improving the training given to staff.”
Approximately 250 service users and carers attended three workshops with one held in Omagh, one in Enniskillen and one in Derry City.