What is the PPG?

PPG’s are all different as they have members with a variety of interests and expertise and they represent diverse patient populations. Inevitably each surgery’s PPG will want to pursue different initiatives.

Our aim is for the PPG to help us give a good service to our patients by the practice gaining a better understanding of what you want. We’d also like to enable patients to take part in shaping what local medical services are provided for the community. With the NHS changing fast we need help preserving the things about the practice that are good, changing the things that are not working and also to help us prioritise and provide the new services that the future NHS will bring.

In practical terms members of our PPG can help the surgery in some of the following ways:

• Give opinions on services offered by the Surgery to improve existing services and suggest new ones.
• Publicise important events for patients and support their attendance at these events e.g. – Expert Patient Programmes etc
• Improve communication between the practice and it’s patients by contributions to the website and the Newsletter
• Become involved with the PCT and in the future the consortium by attending meetings e.g. The PCT Health Network.
• By inviting representatives of the PCT to PPG’s discussions to have your say in the provision of services and let them know what you are doing.
• Run health promotional events at the surgery to educate patients about managing their own health and maintaining a healthy lifestyle
• Provide the patients’ perspective for us when we are asked to respond to the PCT / Consortium about changes in services
• Involvement with the local press about important issues and events
• Help us to provide and prioritise which non medical services are important such as counselling CAB etc
• Improve the practice by looking at the premises itself
• Advise us about opening hours, telephone access and the provision of early, late and Saturday morning surgeries
• Keep an eye on the awareness days calendar and help us provide useful information to patients on those days for example No Smoking Day
• Help us to protect existing services when they come under threat for example our in house physiotherapist and dispensary

PPG Meetings

The PPG meets every two months at the surgery in the early evening, usually on a Wednesday.