A RANDOM sample of people living in the Maidstone Weald NHS Primary Care Trust area are to be asked what they think of local health services.

The exercise will be carried out during March and is part of a national survey designed to evaluate patient experience and bring about improvements in local health services.

About 850 people have been selected and will be sent a questionnaire to complete along with information about the NHS organisations that provide their local health services.

A free telephone helpline service is available to people who have any queries about the survey or would prefer to answer the questions over the phone.

Maidstone Weald Primary Care Trust has commissioned PatientDynamics, an NHS approved independent healthcare research company, to conduct the survey. All responses will remain anonymous and strictly confidential.

The results of the survey will be published nationally and a summary of the results for Maidstone Weald Primary Care Trust will be included in a patient prospectus due to be published in the autumn.

The trust is encouraging people who receive the questionnaire to complete it and return it as quickly as possible.