HEALTH workers are urging more than 6,000 householders not to ignore survey forms which will drop through their letterboxes this week.

East Lancashire Health Authority believes the questionnaire could help shape the future of healthcare in the district.

It will be posted randomly to discover what a cross-section of residents feel about local health services.

The survey will also aim to find out what the lifestyles and health needs are of the East Lancashire population.

Dr Stephen Morton, East Lancashire public health director, said there was plenty of information about why people came into hospital and how successful they felt their treatment was.

But he said: "It is also important to ask people in the community what they themselves think about their health. "This is the second survey we have done and we want to see whether things in East Lancashire have improved, what local people themselves think is important and useful and whether initiatives to help people give up smoking and live healthier lifestyles are working.

"The better the response rate, the better our information will be."

The survey will be targeted at adults only and the individual information will be confidential.

People will not even have to give their names and the survey will be similar to one conducted by the health authority in 1992.

The results will be sent to the North West Surveys and Research Unit in Manchester and health workers in East Lancashire will digest the results early next year.

Health workers are keen to get a good response from all cross-sections of the the community.

Anybody wanting information can call their helpline and speak to Liz Walton or Kevin McKeown on 01282 610247.

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