THE public will have a chance to voice their opinions about the NHS to those responsible for providing the service.

The local NHS is hosting its annual meeting on Thursday evening in the Sir James Matthews Building, Southampton.

Representatives from the four main health providers in the area will be on hand.

The four organisations are: Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, Southampton Community Health Services NHS Trust and Southampton City Primary Care Trust.

Other new health trusts will also be represented at the meeting, which will be chaired by Professor Michael Hall, chairman of Southampton Community Health Council.

One of the top items on the agenda will be the annual report produced by local NHS services on their work over the past year.

For the third year running, the four health bodies have teamed up to produce a joint report.

The report includes a list of useful health numbers plus information on job vacancies and how to apply.

Tony Shaw, chief executive of Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority, said: "Delivering high-quality services to our patients and clients is our priority, but it's also vital that we are fully open and accountable to people.

"The annual report, which we are legally obliged to produce, is an important part of this process.

"We have tried to make it as informative and interesting as we can, while keeping costs as low as possible."

A summary of the report is available in Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Chinese, Urdu and other languages, plus in large print, Braille and on audio tape.

Copies of the report will be distributed to around 170,000 households in the Southampton area in association with the Daily Echo.