PEOPLE in Inverclyde have singled out mental wellbeing as the top priority for local health and social care services.

In what is the biggest-ever response to a regular survey asking about the way ahead for services over the next five years, the public have called for more support for the most vulnerable.

Community project Your Voice led the consultation, which reached over 1,300 individuals as well as a host of local community groups and schools.

The subsequent report sets out the serious health and social care challenges facing the community and six big action areas to tackle them.

Your Voice executive officer Karen Haldane said: "This is the most people we have ever had involved in consultations like this.

"Our job is to give people a voice and we want the strategic plan to reflect the priorities of the population.

"We draw on the experiences of our support groups.

"We reach out in our every day work to about 12 per cent of the population, which is a lot of people.

"They all feed in to it and we have had a great responses at our drop-in events this time.

"People can now have a bigger say than ever before and it is our job to make sure they do.

"It is about taking control of their own health and wellbeing.

"There are lots of challenges and the health and social care partnership's strategic plan aims to set out how best to deliver this."

The draft strategic plan for 2019-24 starts by stating that mental health must be made a clear priority.

It also sets out other pressing health issues for Inverclyde which need to be addressed.

These includes death rates for substance misuse and liver disease being significantly higher than the rest of Scotland, plus the high number of children on the protection register because of parental drug misuse.

To help deliver on the aims of the plan the six key action points are reducing inequality, nurturing children, protecting the population, supporting people to live independently, reducing the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs and building on the strengths in the community.