THE East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) is seeking views from the public to help develop its services as it applies to become a foundation trust.

Under the banner ‘your service, your say’, patients and members of the public can all influence how the NHS Foundation Trust will be set up.

The consultation will continue until the end of the year and, if the application is successful, trust members will have direct input into how services are developed and improved.

Chief executive of EEAST Hayden Newton said: “Becoming an NHS Foundation Trust will allow for closer links with those who are most important to us – our patients, staff, volunteers and the communities we serve.

“And people can have a greater influence on the delivery and improvement of services in your area by becoming a member.”

As part of its plans for the future the organisation wants to look at ways of developing more tailor-made services for the benefit of its patients.

Mr Newton added: “We believe that the current one size fits all approach is not always the most appropriate for our patients. It needs to change so that the individual needs of patients can be met more effectively.

“As a foundation trust we will have greater freedom and scope to look for better ways of meeting our own patients’ particular needs and priorities – but we will still be closely inspected and regulated to make sure we achieve all NHS standards.”

Events are being arranged across the east of England during the consultation period where you can speak to staff in person about the proposals. These will be advertised locally and details can also be found online at foundationtrust.eastamb.nhs.uk.

A full consultation document and summary leaflet is also available on this website and people can also give feedback and become a member online.

Alternatively you can call 0800 028 3021 or email ft@eastamb.nhs.uk for information.