HEALTH chiefs will answer questions from the public about the future of vital community hospital and mental health services in Worcestershire during a series of events.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust wants to engage with the people it serves as it looks to finalise its plans for “meeting future challenges and expectations”.

The trust, which runs community hospitals at Malvern, Pershore, Evesham, Tenbury and Bromsgrove and is the main provider of mental health care in the county, is embarking on a service “transformation” to find £40 million of savings over the next five years.

The emphasis of the changes will be on providing more care at or closer to home, while the trust envisages shedding about 300 of its 4,500 jobs and closing at least 10 per cent of its 200 community hospital beds.

During a series of public events across the county, trust managers will be outlining their vision for “providing care in or closer to home and broadening the range of services and treatments available from community hospitals”. The hour-long sessions will feature a short presentation, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Sarah Dugan, chief executive of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, said: “What we will be talking about is our high level vision for how some of our services may look in the future.

“We feel it is right that we share this now to begin to get more feedback from people who have used our services, or who may access them in the future. It’s critical we hear from communities to find out more about what they think.”

Tomorrow, 6.30pm-7.30pm: Kidderminster Health Library, Kidderminster Hospital.

Thursday, 6.30pm-7.30pm: The Hive Library and History Centre, Worcester.

Tuesday, April 23, 5.45pm-6.45pm: Redditch Library Wednesday, April 24, 6.30pm-7.30pm: Malvern Library.

Wednesday, May 1, 6pm-7pm: Princess of Wales Community Hospital, Bromsgrove.

l Places must be reserved in advance by calling 01905 681425 or e-mailing FTOffice@hacw.nhs.uk.