The Herald Express has linked up with South Devon Healthcare Trust to invite readers to have their say on the future of the National Health Service.

The Torquay-based newspaper has launched a major health survey asking one key question: How would you like to see Chancellor Gordon Brown’s £2 billion Budget windfall for the NHS spent?

Forms have been published in the newspaper asking people to give ideas of how the money should be spent. All the forms the newspaper receives will be passed on to the Trust.

Readers have been encouraged to be specific. Reporter Jon Rosamond wrote in his launch article: “There is no point in merely saying we need more nurses and doctors”.

Nationally the Government has launched the most extensive consultation exercise in the health service’s 50-year history to find out what staff and patients want from this biggest-ever one-off increase in funding.

As part of the process, junior minister Gisela Stuart visited Torbay Hospital where she welcomed the Herald Express survey.

She urged staff and the public to respond with ideas on how to spend the money.

“It’s not just about consulting doctors,” she said. “Those who know best are the patients who use the service and the people who work at the grass roots in hospitals.”

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