England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals is inviting the public to tell his inspection panel what they think of services provided by Wirral hospital trust.

Their views and experiences will help inspectors decide what to look at when they inspect Arrowe Park Hospital and Clatterbridge Hospital in September.

The Care Quality Commission conducted an inspection at Arrowe Park Hospital, in May in response to concerns raised about surgical beds being used for out-patients.

The trust's inspection will start on Tuesday, September 15, and will given an overall rating under radical changes which have been introduced by the commission.

Chief Inspector Professor Sir Mike Richards announced in late-2013 that he will lead significantly larger inspection teams than before, headed up by clinical and other experts including trained members of the public.

To ensure views of patients and the community are properly heard, inspectors will be holding a public meeting onTuesday, September 8, at 6pm, at Oxton St Saviours Parish Centre, Bidston Road, Oxton. 

Readers are encouraged to attend to discover more about the inspection process, tell the team about their experiences of care from the past year and say where they would like to see improvements made.

Sir Mike said: "The new inspections are designed to provide people with a clear picture of the quality of the services in their local hospital, exposing poor or mediocre care as well as highlighting the many hospitals providing good and excellent care.

"We know there is too much variation in quality – these new in-depth inspections will allow us to get a much more detailed picture of care in hospitals than ever before.

"Of course we will be talking to doctors and nurses, hospital managers and patients in the hospital.

"But it is vital that we also hear the views of the people who have had care at any of the hospitals run by the trust, or anyone else who wants to share information with us."

He added: “This is your opportunity to tell me and my team what you think, and make a difference to NHS services in the local area.”

The inspection team will look in detail at eight key service areas: A&E; medical care surgery; intensive/critical care; maternity; paediatrics/children’s care; end of life care; and outpatients.

A full report of the findings will be published later in the year.

The trust will be one of the first to be given one of the following ratings: Outstanding, good, requiring improvement, or inadequate.