Karen Howell, chief executive of Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust, writes for Globe.

CAN local people really influence how the NHS works?

The short answer to that is ... yes.

Organisations big or small, public or private can only perform well by talking to and listening to people who use their services.

Whether that's through market research, consultation or direct engagement, getting closer to customers and understanding their needs can only help them provide a better service or product that meets customer needs.

The NHS is no different and here at Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust we are proud of the work we do to connect with our customers, our patients, clients and service users.

We understand the importance of engaging with local people and it takes place at many levels across the organisation.

We have thriving service specific user and patient groups, for example in Sexual Health Wirral, community cardiology and our wheelchair service to name a few.

An enormous amount of engagement goes on with young people in our 0-19 services with our Involve group.

Involve has over 20 active members, aged 13-19, who meet regularly and communicate via closed groups on social media.

Over the last eight years we have built a Trust membership of over 7,000 people across Wirral and Cheshire including all our staff.

From that membership we have elected our Council of Governors and grown our Your Voice Group.

We have 20 Trust Governors, 10 of which are local people who live here in Wirral representing their local areas of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Wirral West and Wirral South and Neston.

They oversee the work of the Trust Board in running the Trust with particular focus on the work of our non-executive directors.

They can visit any of our services to see how they work and how they are doing and are available for you to contact if you have questions or have feedback about the Trust or the wider health system.

So, as you can see, lots going on and lots to get involved with.

To find out more email foryouwithyou@nhs.net or visit our website www.wchc.nhs.uk