THE new chairman of Herefordshire Community Care Alliance is Jan Frances, manager of Women's Aid in the county.

She was elected at the annual general meeting of the alliance and succeeds Jill Jones of Carers Action.

The alliance, formed in 1998, is now based in the Fred Bulmer Centre in Widemarsh Street and is an umbrella body, co-ordinating voluntary organisations in the county linked to health and social care.

Herefordshire Community Care Alliance is playing an important role in establishing new Patient and Public Involvement Forums in this county and in Worcestershire.

It was awarded a two-year contract by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement to set up the appropriate bodies. The new forums will replace former community councils, which were run down, by Government order, in September.

Progress report

The HCCA has already appointed a co-ordinator, Sheilagh Callaghan, to assist in setting up the forums.

There will be a separate one for both Herefordshire Primary Care Trust and Hereford Hospitals Trust with between 15 and 20 people on each.

The members will be appointed by the Commission and interviews are now taking place.

The role of the forums is to ensure that the NHS and other health bodies take proper account of the views of patients and the public in local communities.

A progress report on the forums will be given at a meeting of HCCA on Tuesday, November 25 at 10am at the Fred Bulmer Centre.

Anyone interested in joining a forum can get an information pack by phoning 0845 120 7115 or registering online at www.maketimeforhealth.org