The Patient Participation Group (PPG) at Churchdown Surgery was created in 2012. It’s objective being to give patients a voice in the services the surgery provides. The PPG is independent from the surgery, although members of the Practice team do participate in PPG meetings and patient events.The group meets every two weeks on a Monday evening to hear from Practice staff about initiatives at the surgery, discuss progress on the current PPG action plan and to identify new ways in which the group can enhance the patient experience. Although the group are unable to address any specific patient complaints they are informed of feedback and discuss praise and areas for improvement.

Are you interested?

Are you interested in finding out more about Churchdown Surgery? Would you like to influence the development of local health services?

Churchdown Surgery has a Patient Participation Group, whose purpose is to seek patient’s views and involvement in the services the practice provides, and to act where possible on the views of our patients.

The practice is looking to gain engagement especially from under represented groups, particularly teenagers and parents of school age children and under. If you would like to volunteer to join this new group, to discuss your ideas and hear about planned changes please complete our registration form.

Here are a few things to give you an idea of what the group gets involved in:

Plans

• Extend collaborative working with other surgeries to learn from their successes.
• Grow the Patient Participation Group membership to give patients a greater input to the surgery and the healthcare they receive.
• Develop a young persons Patient Participation Group to give younger patients a voice in their healthcare.
• Develop the Patient Participation Group information on the surgery website.
• Work with the surgery to enhance the surgery website to help make it more patient friendly.
• Assist the surgery in the development of social prescribing, a means of enabling GPs and other front-line healthcare professionals to refer people to ‘services’ in their community instead of offering only medical solutions.
• Support Dr Agombar’s social gardening project.
• Support Dr Drewett with her Churchdown Connections project which will empower patients to self-care by training a member of staff in health coaching skills, mapping community assets and facilitate connections between patients and community-based peer support groups.

Achievements

• August 2019 CQC Result was good in all areas available – This can be viewed at www.cqc.org.uk.
• October 2018 – The creation of a collaborative working group with Hucclecote Surgery to look at jointly developing the provision of Social Prescribing.
• September 2018 – Website updated following Patient Participation Group input.
• September 2018 – First set of Patient Participation Group promotion posters go out to various parish council offices.
• August 2018 – Patient Participation Group promotion on surgery reception screens.
• August 2018 – Link made with Hucclecote Patient Participation Group.
• June/July 2018 – Patient Participation Group develop communication plan.
• Pre 2018 New premises and various healthcare events.
• July 2022 – Introduction of new ‘hot topics’ box for reception waiting room
• May 2022 – New Patient noticeboard outside Reception doors
• March 2022 – Re-instatement of face to face meetings with the option to join virtually
• 2020/2021 – First virtual PPG meeting in light of COVID, continual virtual meetings thereafter

PPG minutes will be uploaded below. If you are interested in knowing more about discussions which affect you, we welcome your feedback on the PPG minutes.

• 30/06/2022 – PPG Minutes

As a group we aim to:

Give patients a voice by

• Looking at the results of the annual patient survey, conducting our own patient .surveys or collecting feedback in the surgery reception.
• Advising the Practice and patients of new systems or treatments.
• Sharing good practice by networking with other PPGs.
• Lobbying to improve a range of health services.

Promoting health matter by

• Organising presentations on important health needs.
• Raising awareness of key public health messages.
• Producing a directory of self help support groups.
• Running courses in conjunction with the surgery on health subjects.

Improve communication by

• Issuing regular news bulletins.
• Building two-way relationship between patients and the surgery.
• Promoting awareness of and access to local health services.
• Developing a patient library or information resource centre.
• Improving the surgery’s leaflets and website.

Influence the development of services by

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