Patient Participation Group

Please don’t keep your opinions and good ideas to yourself, come and share them!

Here is some information about our Group.

National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP)

The National Associations aims are to promote the voice and views of patients.  The National group is growing in influence and recognition.

The National group exists to help your Patient Participation Group to do its job better.  It helps PPGs to share their experiences in helping both patients and practices, and gives support to PPGs in understanding and coping with the world of professional healthcare.

Woodland Avenue Patient Participation Group joined the National Association in 2010.  Our Group has its own Constitution, Terms of Reference, Chair, Secretary and Finance Officer. We receive regular bulletins from the NAPP.

• Conducting patients surveys or collecting feedback in the waiting room.
• Advising the practice and patients of new systems and treatments.
• Sharing good practice by networking with other PPGs.
• Lobbying to improve a whole range of health services

• Organising presentations on important health needs.
• Ensuring current health awareness days are promoted.
• Ensuring equality and diversity.

• Editing the newsletters
• Building 2-way relationships between patients and the practice
• Promoting awareness of and access to local health services
• Updating the patient information notice boards
• Assisting with the editing of the Practice leaflets and website.

• Advising on the development of new or existing practice premises.
• Representing patient views on the purchase of health services.
• Co-ordinating with other PPGs to improve wider healthcare delivery.
• Fundraising to provide services  not covered by the NHS.

You may have a lot of good ideas and suggestions for improving the Health Service.

Taking part keeps you updated on how things are changing.  You find out a great deal about what is happening in your practice.

It can improve your understanding of how General Practice works and some of the problems, etc. You can become much better informed about your rights, the choices available of where treatment can be carried out and how long you may have to wait.

The PPG has the following aims:

• To provide the practice with a formal mechanism for communicating with patients.
• To act as an advisory service for the practice on service developments, organisational matters, such as opening hours, purchasing of systems, etc.
• To liaise with the Doctors, Nurses and Staff and attached services to promote health and well-being.

All meetings are held on Tuesdays at the Practice and start at 18:30. Meetings usually run for approximately 1 ½ hours. Agendas and Minutes are produced for every meeting. We occasionally have guest speakers.

This group is separate from the Patient Participation Group. Would you like to have a say about the services provided at Woodland Avenue Practice? The Practice would like to hear from you. By providing your email details we can add them to the Patient Reference Group contact list, which has a dedicated email address.

You may then be contacted by email up to four times a year. We will ask you a maximum of five questions each time. The Patient Participation Group (a separate group who meet regularly to discuss practice issues) will assist the practice in collating the responses and developing your proposals. The results will be printed in the practice newsletters and an action plan will be drawn up. The Patient Reference Group will only be contacted by email and attendance at meetings is not required.

Your contact details will only be used for this purpose and will be kept safely.

Please ask the Receptionist, at your next visit, to provide you with a Patient Reference Group registration form. Alternatively, you can register online by clicking on the image opposite.

The Patient Reference Group has been set up in line with the recommendations from Government in order to include patients views about the practice and the services offered.