People are being invited to have their say on the future of health and social care in the west of the island.

Workshops are taking part early next month to provide information, gauge existing provision and demand, and gather residents’ views.

The Department of Health and Social Care says it ’intends to work collaboratively to identify what is required to deliver integrated care for Peel and the surrounding communities, what resources are already in place and whether gaps exist’.

A number of what it calls ’stakeholder engagement workshops’ and roadshows were held across the island in December 2015 and January 2016 to consult residents on how health and care services could be shaped in the future. The department says those sessions provided a lot of ’positive’ feedback and showed how interested people were in the development and enhancement of care in the community, closer to people’s homes.

The DHSC is committed to continuing to engage with communities to ensure it builds integrated services that are tailored to those who will be using them, at the same time as being affordable and sustainable.

Two workshops will take place at the Philip Christian Centre in Christian Street, Peel, on Tuesday, December 5 - one at 2.30pm and another at 6.30pm.

Anyone wishing to attend should register an interest and book a place. This can be done either online at http://bit.ly/2AfxIMq or by calling Georgia Dobbins on 642623.