PEOPLE who use mental health services in Suffolk are to be given a chance to express their views in a national survey.Throughout January questionnaires will be sent out to users of the Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust's services.

PEOPLE who use mental health services in Suffolk are to be given a chance to express their views in a national survey.

Throughout January questionnaires will be sent out to users of the Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust's services.

Mark Halladay, chief executive of the trust, said: "The feedback we and the Department of Health get from users about their care is very important.

"The Department use it to rate our services in the star ratings each year. We use them to check how we are doing in developing care to people with mental health problems and to help plan how and where we need to improve services.

"Of course, nothing of this happens unless people do complete and send in the questionnaire in the first place. So if you do get one of the survey forms, pleased fill it in and send it back to the survey company."

Questionnaires will be sent to 850 service users and will ask about various aspects of their experiences including their care and treatment, relationships with health professionals, medications, their care plan, support in the community and crisis care.

Every NHS trust in England is carrying out a similar survey as part of a national programme led by the Healthcare Commission. This survey is part of the commitment, set out in the NHS Plan, to design a health service around the needs of those who use it.

The results of this survey will be available in summer 2005 and will be published by the trust and be available on the Health Care Commission's website:

The results will be presented to a trust board meeting and workshops will be held for service users to receive the results and help develop improvements.