There was some pre-Christmas cheer for the NHS in the autumn statement last week.

The Chancellor announced an extra £2billion will be pumped into frontline health services to meet increasing demand.

While every single additional penny that goes in to patient services is a welcome addition, we must all play our part to ensure we get maximum value.

We can all help the NHS by looking after ourselves, exercising regularly, eating healthy foods and ensuring our medicine cupboards are stocked with appropriate medicines.

This means that even before we access NHS services, we should consider how to help the system remain healthy.

During 2014, we conducted our Big Care Debate which gave communities an opportunity to say how they would like health and social care to develop across north east Essex.

It was clear through these events that the vast majority of people understood the importance of self-care. However, the overarching wish from local people was for services to be centred around the needs of the individual, close to their home. Providing care in this way tailored to people’s needs makes good sense. It would mean patients with minor illnesses or injuries are seen within the comfort of their own surroundings and those needing urgent or emergency care are dealt with effectively at an urgent care centre or emergency department at Colchester General Hospital.

Last week, we started consulting the public on our proposals for providing care closer to home and urgent care services in the future.

Our 10-week consultation is aimed at giving everyone an opportunity to learn more and to give their views on whether our plans would work for them.

Everyone can help us now to develop better local services by commenting on our proposals for improvement. Visit our website www.neessexccg.nhs.uk for more information about what we are proposing, details of public meetings or to complete our online questionnaire.

We are committed to providing the highest standards of quality services for the communities we serve and we would like to hear from anyone who might have a view based on what they know or have experienced. I believe our proposals will improve services for patients as well as make our local NHS and other care services work even more effectively in the future.

The consultation runs until January 31.