WHITEFIELD-based Greater Manchester Ambulance Service (GMAS) will come under scrutiny during a 17-week review.

Management provision, quality of service and best practice and potential improvement will come under the microscope during the exercise.

And local people, who wish to talk about their experiences of the service, can also have an input into the assessment.

The review of GMAS will be carried out by the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) and is scheduled to start next week.

This appraisal will also involve the first NHS Direct review of Greater Manchester NHS Direct services.

The assessments are known as clinical governance review and are part of a rolling programme that will involve CHI visiting every NHS Trust, health authority and local health group in England and Wales.

And the reviews will look at management, provision and quality of service provided by the organisation and identify best practice and areas for improvement.

A trained team will be involved in the assessment. This includes an NHS doctor, nurse, a clinical professional such as a paramedic, a lay person, an NHS manager and a CHI manager who co-ordinates the process.

Trust staff, local people and organisations with an interest in the NHS will be asked to comment on issues they believe are relevant to the assessment. A report will be published later.

A meeting for individuals or small groups will be held on Thursday, March 21 for people in Central Manchester and the surrounding areas including Bury and Bolton.

To arrange a confidential appointment, to send comments or for more information, ring the CHI on 0845 601 3012.

CHI chairman Dame Deirdre Hine said: "The patients' experience of care lies at the heart of our work.

"We aim to improve standards of care by focusing on the experience of those using the NHS.

"We want the NHS to see itself as the patients see it. Sometimes that process will be an uncomfortable one, but it is vital if we are to provide a better service."