EVERY year the Healthcare Commission carries out an Annual Health Check. Your readers now have a chance to share their views about local NHS and social care services with the health regulator.

Local people are invited to share their views by completing a short survey. The questionnaire should only take a few minutes to complete. Everyone with comments or ideas about how services can be improved is very welcome to take part.

There are many ways we can help you answer this survey: l We can take your answers over the phone on 0845 094 9497; l You can complete the survey online - at www.s-link.co.uk and click on surveys l We can supply the survey in larger print, Braille, in another language or in audio format; l You can email us at s-link@hapuk.co.uk l Fax us c/o of our host organisation on 01225 701138 The survey will close on Friday 20th March 2009. Information received from this survey will be included in a report to the Healthcare Commission, produced by your Local Involvement Network. The Southampton LINk (S-LINk) is facilitating this survey in order to obtain evidence of local views to forward on to the Healthcare Commission. This will help to inform the annual rating given to each local trust.

The Southampton Local Involvement Network (S-LINk) is the local group of a national organisation, set up by Parliament, to obtain the views of local communities, groups and interested individuals about their local NHS and social care services. The LINk has statutory powers to share these views and make service providers take them into account in their service planning decisions.

For more information about the S-LINk and how you can be involved, please contact the S-LINk at www.s-link.org or ring on 0845 094 9497 Vicky Willett, S-LINk administrator.