The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital is working with Healthwatch Shropshire to improve health equality, and is seeking the help of the local community.

The Oswestry-based hospital is inviting patients, service users and members of the public to join one of two focus groups, taking place on Tuesday 7 March from 2pm to 4pm and Saturday 11 March from 10am to 12 noon.

Kirsty Foskett, Head of Clinical Governance and Quality, said: “These focus groups will help us gather qualitative feedback from our patients, service users and the local community to help us understand what we do well and areas for improvement, in a bid to support us in developing plans to tackle health inequalities and ensure our services meet the needs of the community.

“Our focus at RJAH is to look how we ensure access to our services are equitable, free from harm and how we can improve overall patient and service user experience.

“We would like the opportunity to talk with those within our local community who are considered to have protected characteristics and those in inclusion health groups to understand how their needs are being a met, and as a Trust, what we can do to improve.”

Sara Ellis-Anderson, Chief Nurse and Patient Safety Officer, said: “This piece of work is part of an assessment of the Equality Delivery System (EDS) which helps NHS organisations to review and improve the services they provide to ensure they are free from discrimination.

“We very much appreciate the time people will give up to help us make our healthcare services better for everyone.”

To register for either focus group, please click on the below link for your preferred date:

For more information, you can watch this short video by NHS England, or contact rjah.pals.office@nhs.net.