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;
- How changes in the NHS will affect service provision
- Information no the help available, support groups and networks
- Helps patients understand more about the medical conditions/problems
- Helps improve patients overall experience of the practice
Who are the members of the patient participation group?
The group will comprise of a GP, Practice Manager, Nurse and patients from across the surgery representing the practice population. The fluidity of the group will allow for changes as demand requires.
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.