Understanding the NHS sessions

With 1.7 million employees providing services to over one million patients every 36 hours; 7,875 GP surgeries and 209 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), the NHS is one of the five largest employers worldwide and can be a complicated organisation to understand.

To help local people learn more about the structure of the NHS and how health services are commissioned and provided, Herts Valleys CCG ran an informal session recently designed to simplify the structure of the NHS and its partners.

At the session people heard about the history of the NHS, learned about how it buys services based on the needs of the population within a set budget, the Your Care, Your Future strategy for west Herts and how local residents can get involved by joining The People Bank*, becoming a patient representative and more.

Chris Cook, who attended the event said, “The session was very informative. I’m pleased I came along because it is really useful to understand how the NHS works locally and nationally. I have recently become involved in a patient group and wanted to know how being involved in my group would help me to have a say and I would definitely like to help to influence decisions by getting more involved.”

Herts Valleys CCG plans to hold more of these sessions in the future. If you are interested in attending then please get in touch with Heather Aylward, Public Engagement Manager, on heather.aylward@hertsvalleysccg.nhs.uk

You can read more about how to get involved on the Get Involved section of the Herts Valleys CCG website at www.hertsvalleysccg.nhs.uk/get-involved