OXFORDSHIRE’S health bosses have called on the county’s residents to suggest innovative ways of tackling the demographic and financial problems they are facing.

It came at the first public meeting held by the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) in Wantage yesterday.

The trust is holding a series of meetings throughout November and December to help it know which services residents value.

Addressing the meeting Lorraine Foley, director of commissioning and partnerships at OCCG, said: “This is about saying ‘what do you think is important’, ‘what ideas have you got’. It needs that kind of radical thinking. Whichever way we look at it and whichever government there is, there is not going to be enough money to do all the things we would like to.”

The OCCG is facing an £11.1m deficit this financial year in the worst case scenario and has had to make £25m of savings to meet its £650m budget this year – its first since taking over from the Primary Care Trust on April 1.

Dr Gavin Bartholomew, a clinical director at OCCG, told the meeting that over the next few years more people would have more long-term conditions, which would push up costs. He said: “These numbers bring home to you why we are so financially challenged.”