RESIDENTS and GPs attended the annual meeting of the West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

The group, which plans and pays for health services for the almost 600,000 people of west Hampshire, presented a varied evening highlighting the improvements they have made to health services over the past year.

Attendees at Winchester Guildhall heard how the CCG has put intense focus on issues such as mental health and caring for vulnerable children.

Rachel Harrison, a 34 year-old with a progressive neurological condition, spoke on how, together with the CCG, she has helped shape local neurological services.

She discussed the importance of patient involvement in planning healthcare for the future and commended the CCG for their excellent work in this arena during their first year as an organisation.

Finally, attendees heard about the work the CCG have done for older people, working together with care homes to create new initiatives such as the green bag system which allows older people to keep their medicines with them when transferring between locations.

The CCG launched their five-year strategy which details how they plan to shape services to for the future.