St Peter’s Health Centre Patient Participation Group (PPG) is an integral part of our healthcare community. The PPG provides a platform for patients to voice their opinions, concerns, and suggestions regarding the services they receive at the practice. We aim to have three PPG meetings a year which will provide an opportunity to make your voice heard and play a significant role in shaping the future of healthcare delivery in our community. We also aim to promote self-care for patients by developing wider support initiatives e.g. Menopause Café.
St Peter’s PPG is a member of the National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP) and we follow their advice, guidelines and instructions especially in regard to the regulations involving the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
If you would like to find out more, there is a video explaining PPGs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP4SRKChUwI
Who We Are
Members of the Patient Participation Group (PPG) are volunteers who support and influence healthcare at St Peter’s Health Centre by offering the patient’s perspective’ and acting as a ‘Critical Friend’. We will be a working with the health centre to help find new ways of developing and improving services they provide.
How will the PPG be run?
PPG Management
The PPG is managed by a committee, which supports the officers, namely the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, IT and Communication Lead, Treasurer and Committee Support Member. The Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Practice Manager regularly attends committee meetings together with one of the GPs. The PPG prides itself on working collaboratively with the surgery team.
PPG Committee:
- Chairperson (chairs the PPG Meetings): Robert Brown
- Vice Chair (assists the chair and steps in when the chair is unavailable): Joanne Smith
- Secretary (minutes meetings and supports the administrative work of the committee): Judi Lynn
- Committee Support Member (supports the wider work of the committee): Philip Faithfull
- IT and Communications Lead (assist with the communication needs of the committee): tbc
- Treasurer: (oversees funds): tbc
When We Meet?
The PPG group aims to meet three times a year to provide input and feedback into the development of services at the surgery and to discuss any related activities. The Committee meets in-between to discuss with the leadership team at the practice, matters relating to the surgery, and for us to work together constructively to improve services
What We Do?
Our purpose is:
- To help improve the experience of patients attending the health centre
- To share ideas to help patients to take more responsibility for their own health and to help improve the services offered by the health centre
- To support the health centre to organise information sessions on medical and health related topics of interest to patients
- To develop self-help projects to meet the needs of patients and make best use of GP time
- To improve communication through the health centre’s website as well as through noticeboards, emails, texts and social media
- To act as a representative group that can be called upon to influence the local provision of health and social care
- To provide a forum to ensure patients are kept informed about the wider changes within the NHS and Social Care and the impact these will have locally
- To raise funds to enable the practice to make purchases for patients that are not normally funded by the NHS and to support and improve the work of the health centre
- To liaise with other PPG groups and interested parties to increase awareness of developments and how these will impact and improve local services
What the PPG Doesn’t Do
We do not deal with personal medical issues or complaints, there are already well-established procedures that deal with these.
How can I become a member of the PPG?
All patients of St Peter’s Health Centre automatically become members of the Patient Participation Group (PPG). There is no membership or joining fee and no training is required. So, if you are enthusiastic about the surgery and have a few hours to spare a few times a year, please think about becoming a member of our PPG.
If you wish to find out more please complete the PPG contact form https://www.stpetersmedicalcentre.co.uk/PatientParticipationGroupPages/Contact or leave your details at the surgery reception for the attention of the PPG Secretary. We are very keen to recruit younger patients as well.