FOLLOWING the late cancellation today of a consultation event due to be held in at the Beehive Resource Centre, Grays, on plans to merge regional Clinical Commissioning Groups a halt has been called to the 'in person' consultation process.

A statement issued this evening says: "Following the Government's latest guidance, the five NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in mid and south Essex have taken the decision to cancel public events where they had hoped to discuss the future of local NHS planning with residents."

A spokesperson for the five CCGs said: "Our overriding priority is, as it has always been, the safety of people living in our area.

"We really would still like local people's input on the plans, and there are ways you can do this online."

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a timeline for a single organisation to be planning and buying NHS care across larger areas.

The groups had arranged three events in the south of the county and three more in the local authority areas of mid Essex where residents could have their say about proposals for a possible merger between the five organisations.

Two of the events, for south east Essex and Chelmsford residents, have already been held, but all those yet to happen have been cancelled to support residents' "social distancing".

• Grays and Thurrock this evening
• Braintree District this Thursday (19 March)
• Pitsea, Basildon and Brentwood next Monday (23 March)
• Maldon District next Wednesday (25 March).

You can find out more about the proposals for the five CCGs to come together on each of the CCG websites and share your views through a feedback questionnaire before the deadline on 5 April 2020.