MEMBERS of the public are being urged to have their say the future of health and social care services across North Ayrshire.

Consultation is now open on North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s new three-year strategic plan for 2018-21.

A key theme of the plan is the need to keep ourselves healthy and well. As demand on services grow while funding reduces, it becomes even more important that people are informed about how to best improve their health.

That means working with communities and individuals, developing good habits and addressing health concerns at an early stage to prevent a serious long-term condition.

Councillor Robert Foster, Chair of Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Planning Group, said: “Our population is changing at an incredible rate which has a massive impact on the services we provide.

“In recent years, our older population has been increasing steadily and that will continue. Over the next 10 years, we expect the number of older people in North Ayrshire to increase from 22 per cent to 28 per cent of the population.

“So we have more people than ever needing health and social care services but less money to meet that growing demand.

“That means we will have to work differently to ensure we provide the services that people need and, just as importantly, ensure they have the tools and knowledge to have a positive impact on their own health.

“The new strategic plan aims to show that by working together, with a focus on prevention and early intervention, we can do more for people’s long-term health and wellbeing.

“I hope that our residents will take time to consider how their own health and social care will be affected in future years and have their say.” The draft plan is available for public consultation here.

In addition, an online questionnaire has been made available to gather people’s view here.

During the consultation, North Ayrshire residents are being invited along to a roadshow to discover more about what they can do to keep themselves well. Health and Social Care Partnership staff will be stationed at local libraries across North Ayrshire throughout January, to support people to complete the questionnaire in paper format and to answer any questions they may have.

The drop-in sessions are being held on: · Tuesday, 16 January, Kilbirnie Library from 2–4pm · Thursday, 18 January, Saltcoats Library from 2–4pm · Thursday, 18 January, Stevenston Library from 5–7pm · Monday, 22 January, Largs Library from 10am–12noon · Monday, 22 January, Millport Library from 2–4pm · Wednesday, 24 January, Kilwinning Library from 10am– 12noon · Thursday, 25 January, Dalry Library from 2–4pm · Friday, 26 January, Arran Library from 11.30am–12.30pm · Tuesday, 6 February, Irvine Library from 2–3.30pm.

There will also be two public health and wellbeing events: • Thursday, 1 February, Volunteer Rooms, Irvine, from noon–3pm • Saturday, 3 February, Ardrossan Civic Centre, Ardrossan, from 12noon–3pm At these events, NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s Public Health Team, Scottish Health Council, KA Leisure and others will be on hand with information about health, fitness, food and other ways to stay well and healthy.