MEMBERS of the public are invited to tell England's chief inspector of hospital's what they think of services provided by The Dudley Group.

The NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Russells Hall Hospital, The Corbett Hospital and Dudley Guest Hospital, is among the first to be inspected and given an overall rating under radical changes introduced by the Care Quality Commission.

Chief inspector, Professor Sir Mike Richards, announced last year that he would lead significantly larger inspection teams than before, headed up by clinical and other experts including trained members of the public.

And to help inspectors decide what to look at and to ensure the views and experiences of patients and the community are properly heard, people are invited to two listening events taking place on Tuesday March 25 - as the formal inspection gets underway.

The events, being held at Dudley Town Hall, Dudley, and The Talbot Hotel in Stourbridge High Street, at 6.30pm, will give people chance to find out more about the inspection process, tell the team about care experiences and to have their say on improvements they would like to see in the future.

Sir Mike said: "The new inspections are designed to provide people with a clear picture of the quality of the services in their local hospital, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting the many hospitals providing good and excellent care.

"We know there is too much variation in quality – these new in-depth inspections will allow us to get a much more detailed picture of care in hospitals than ever before.

"Of course we will be talking to doctors and nurses, hospital managers and patients at the trust. But it is vital that we also hear the views of the people who have received care at the trust, or anyone who wants to share information with us.

"This will help us plan our inspection, and so help us focus on the things that really matter to people who depend on this service."

Sir Mike's inspection team is expected to look in detail at A&E; medical care (including for the frail/elderly); surgery; intensive care; maternity; children’s care; end of life care; and outpatients.

A full report of the inspectors’ findings will be published by the Care Quality Commission later this year.

The trust will be one of the first to be given a rating of outstanding, good, requiring improvement or inadequate.

Anyone unable to attend the listening events but wishing to give their views to the inspection team can email enquiries@cqc.org.uk