HEALTH and social care across East Cheshire is viewed as 'average' by residents and members of voluntary and community groups.

The view emerged from a stakeholder event staged by the NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as part of its Caring Together programme, which aims to deliver a new system of health and social care.

Caring Together is giving the community the chance to have its say about any changes, and its first stakeholder event brought together 62 residents, frontline health and social care staff and members of voluntary or community groups.

A CCG spokesman said those taking part gave an average rating of six for the quality of health and social care, confirming that services, while of adequate quality, have definite scope for improvement.

Those attending felt a “one size fits all” approach to accessing services was not working, with the consensus being that there should be greater flexibility, enabling patients to access a wider range of services without always having to go through a GP.