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Even staff will be able to breathe more easily in the new atmosphere of openness and consultation within the NHS. At least, that is message from chief executive Nigel Crisp, who says that everybody's views are essential if service users are to have good access to high quality health and social care.

Crisp has invited social care staff, alongside their NHS counterparts, to participate in a national consultation exercise to consider ways in which the delivery of health and social care can "offer more choice, become more responsive to patients and tackle inequalities".

He added: "As we grow, we have the opportunity to offer people more choice over their care and more involvement in decision-making." He emphasised that it was important to think about social care as well as health staff "because so many people use both services".

The consultation project, which runs until November, will be led by Harry Cayton, who is currently chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society.   

Karen Squillino, primary prevention co-ordinator, Barnardo's
"This is a good place to start but the thinking needs to be wider. Consultation is only a small aspect of participation. If health and social care services are to improve the voices of users and staff should be heard and acted upon throughout the process of change, not just at the beginning. In my experience, consultation can be a disempowering experience if not executed properly. Short timescales for response to jargon-filled weighty papers are not the way to encourage people to offer their views. It would be good to see the NHS offer methods of consultation that are creative and effective."

Bill Badham, development officer, National Youth Agency
"This story is told with the permission of its owner. When my son was five he had interminable hearing tests. A senior doctor consistently spoke over his head, didn't call him by the right name, ignored him and his parents, prodded and poked him without warning or asking him. Then a junior doctor happened to see him, listened, engaged and responded. It doesn't take a massive consultation to work out the difference. It does take a huge change in attitude to bring it about."

Felicity Collier, chief executive, Baaf Adoption and Fostering

"This is a tall order and there will not be simple answers. It would be easy to rubbish this as tokenistic but it is a real chance for social care professionals to talk about the powerlessness of their users and think creatively about what could make a difference. We all agree patients should have a choice of GP and hospital but what about a choice of social worker, home care assistant or, indeed, of council? Well, why not?"

Bob Holman, community worker at a project in Easterhouse, Glasgow
"Ill health is closely linked with poverty. If there were more material equality there would be more health equality. We must not be deceived into thinking that the delivery of services is the whole answer. I would like the NHS to become a pressure group for greater equality in our society generally. Perhaps Nigel Crisp would like to recommend that no one should earn a salary of more than £60,000 or less than £25,000."

Julia Ross, executive director for health and social care, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
"Choice and engagement in decisions that affect you are fundamental to human rights and dignity, let alone a good way of keeping the users of health and social care happy. It's good news for us all that this is going to be given greater attention in the NHS. In many areas, choice and engagement are a way of life and this now needs to extend to all parts of the NHS. There has always been an acknowledgement that we're good at this in social care and we should build on that. This has the potential to revolutionise services in the NHS the way it did 10 years ago with the huge growth in diversity of provision in social care."