You can either contact the new Community Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), described later in this Guide, or write to the PCT's Chief Executive if you have any concerns or comments to make about the service you have received.

In this year's annual NHS Performance Ratings, published in July 2002, NHS organisations across Gloucestershire received good results for hospital, community and primary care services.

In our PCT area (previously Cotswold Primary Care Group, Stroud and Berkeley Vale Primary Care Group and parts of both East Gloucestershire and Severn NHS Trusts) it was particularly good to see that a very high percentage* of people living here were able to see a GP within 48 hours of calling for an appointment and that no patients in the whole of Gloucestershire waited for more than 18 months for in-patient treatment or 26 weeks for an outpatient appointment last year.

*(69.2%in Cotswolds and 75%in Stroud and Berkley Vale)

However, there is always room for improvement and we will continue to strive to meet the government's targets and the goals and challenges we set ourselves. There were no overall star ratings for Primary Care Organisations this year. This is because many PCTs (like ours) only came into being as recently as April 2002. PCTs will receive their first overall 'star' ratings in 2003.