MORE than 100 Haslemere residents attended a public meeting last Friday to register their views on how the health and social care of the local population could be improved.

The meeting was organised by the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust. The resounding message was to make better use of local medical facilities to lessen the burden on acute hospitals such as the Royal Surrey County Hospital at Guildford.

Extending Haslemere Hospital's minor injury unit and bringing more consultants to the town were some of the suggestions put to the PCT committee.

Further ideas came from the committee itself and these included carrying out pre-operative assessments at Haslemere Hospital and for X-rays and ultrasound to take place at community hospitals.

The public listening exercise is a borough-wide initiative aimed at providing more effective health care in primary care settings such as health centres, GPs' surgeries and community hospitals. In turn this aims to increase capacity in acute hospitals to allow them to concentrate on the seriously ill and those needing operations.

The chief executive of Guildford and Waverley PCT, Elizabeth Slim, described the Royal Surrey as being "under siege", often because local people are unaware of the facilities on their doorstep.

"At the moment, lots of people turn up at the A and E department when it's not necessary, due to a lack of trust with the GP.

"Many people don't know even realise Haslemere has a minor injuries unit and go to the Royal Surrey County Hospital instead.

"We want people cared for in their own community and to provide a greater choice of treatment locally," she said.

With Haslemere identified as having the most ageing population in the whole of Waverley, a wider range of health care on the doorstep spells good news for the elderly patients who would otherwise have to travel longer distances.

The minor injuries unit at Haslemere Hospital is seen as playing a key role in easing the burden on acute hospitals.

Director of operations and services, Lesley Forester, said: "I think we have mentioned some very good ideas. We could definitely look to extending the minor injuries clinic by opening on Sundays and in the evenings, and we could work at improving the access for people using it.

"We also have refurbishment of the unit in mind."

She stressed, however, that procedures requiring general anaesthetic could not be carried out there as there would not be sufficient resources in the event of complications.

Residents heard that there also plans to have a greater focus on dentistry, opticians, GPs and pharmacists with the appointment of a community pharmacist advisor to enable people to take more responsibility for their health.

Speaking after the meeting, the vice- chairman of Haslemere Hospital's League of friends, Fay Foster, said: "I think everyone felt very listened to and the PCT looks like it is on our side. Most people would have gone there feeling very despondent but left feeling pleased.

"It seems that, for once, we'll have the Royal Surrey facilities coming to Haslemere rather than always the other way round."

Feedback from this meeting will be combined with the information from meetings in Guildford, Cranleigh, Farnham and Godalming. The results will be published in an outcome document next month.