WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP?
The patient participation group consists of patients who wish to be involved in the local practice whilst taking an active role in developing local health services. The purpose of the group is to facilitate patients and the practice staff working together to share ideas to help improve the services offered at the practice in addition to sourcing out any local community services that would help enhance aspects of the patient’s lives. The group will also have the responsibility of helping patients to take more responsibility for their own health, the group also offers an avenue for patients to have a say in how services are are planned, developed and evaluated to foster a good working relationship with the practice staff and GP’s.
WHAT DOES A PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP DO?
- Help improve on the experience of attending the surgery
- Help the practice decide on overall service priorities
- Helps bring the attention of practice staff, the practice perspective of the level and standard of the services provided
- Acts as a channel is communicating to patients o How changes in the NHS will affect service provision o Information on the help available, support groups and networks
- Helps patients understand more about the medical conditions/problems
- Helps improve patients overall experience of the practice WHY SET UP A PPG? Research tells us that effective engagement with patients;
- Improves quality of care and patient satisfaction
- Encourages patients as proactive partners rather than passive recipients of care
- Improves concordance with treatment
- Improves health outcomes
- Informs effective targeting of resources, saving time and money
- Is rewarding for professionals and improves relationships.
WHAT THE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP IS NOT ABOUT
The group will not deal with personal medical issues of individual patient complaints as there is already an existing procedure to handle such matters.
WHAT CAN ALL PATIENTS DO TO HELP THE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP?
The patient participation group’s effectiveness is engineering the mutual working together of both patients and the practice staff to achieve a common goal in the provision of the best possible service. To achieve this end will require patients communicating with the group and practice staff as a whole.
JOINING AND REGISTERING WITH THE PPG
We wish to recruit further patients from as broad a spectrum as possible to get a truly representative group. We need young people, workers, retirees, people with long-term conditions and people from non-British Ethnic groups, basically anyone is welcome to apply.
We hope we have we peaked you interest, please fill in the PPG Registration form and the Chairman of the PPG will be in contact with you.
All registered patients are welcome to attend any meeting of the Patient Participation Group without giving prior notice, however if you would like to bring items to be discussed at the meeting, prior notification is required to ensure the best possible discussion.
You can send a Contact the Practice with a General Enquiry Form for the attention of Ben Kavanagh, Assistant Practice Manager with your interest to attend a meeting or let one of the receptionist know when your at the practice.