Help your say on NHS spending in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire - and get paid for your views

The panel is being set up by the organisation which plans and buys health services in the county – the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

It will be made up of 30 individuals who will represent – through its mix – the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. This includes younger people, those with disabilities and long-term conditions and people from minority ethnic communities.

You do not need any special qualifications to take part but need to be at least 18.

The members of the Community Value Panel will help the CCG understand what is important to local people when it is making decisions about funding services.

The CCG’s £1.3 billion pays for things such as doctors, hospitals, community services, some pharmacy services and mental health services.

But it is operating with a £75 million debt and needs to make some tough decisions about what health services to buy for the region’s 980,000 people.

It must save money this year and spend less in the future.

Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the local champion for health and care services, is running the panel.

Chair Val Moore said: “To have people and patients at the heart of service change is an aim we all share but is hard to do.

“The panel is a new way for our CCG to have some big conversations with local people about what’s important to them.

“It helps identify the values people hold that underpin hard decisions the CCG needs to make and what matters most if those decisions are put into practice.

“This independent thinking will provide valuable insights for decision makers.

“It has been used by organisations like NICE to look at ethics and has even been proposed as a way of tackling some of the issues around Brexit.”

Residents applying must live in Cambridgeshire or Peterborough and must be able to attend two meetings in St Ives from 10am to 2pm on Thursday, October 24 and Tuesday, November 19.

You will be paid £50 per meeting plus reasonable travel expenses and lunch will be provided.

The deadline to apply is noon on October 15.

Jessica Bawden, director of external affairs and policy at the CCG, said: “We are very grateful for the support of Healthwatch in helping us to seek the views of our local communities.

“The Community Values Panel will give people the opportunity to take time to discuss and consider NHS priorities for the future in this area.

“We would encourage as many people as possible to apply and get involved.”

For more information, visit: https://www.healthwatchpeterborough.co.uk/community-values/.