NHS staff will also benefit from improvements they suggest

Support groups made up of NHS staff from the health authorities in both counties are spending 12 months examining 12 project areas.

The frontline services earmarked for improvements by the authorities and the NHS Modernisation Agency include access to family doctors, mental health care, day surgery, dermatology, neurology, ear, nose and throat, emergency and orthopaedic care.

The projects are funded by the Modernisation Agency which hopes the staff involved will be able to use and develop their skills and expertise as they work on the projects.

The Shropshire and Staffordshire Joint Strategic Health Authority's head of service improvement, Sue Price, said: "Project Support Groups are all about improving access for patients so they can be seen more quickly and helping staff to use and develop their skills and expertise to make those improvements possible.

"Through this initiative we hope to develop a significant group of people with the skills to modernise the local NHS and make a real difference for patients."