Patient Participation Group

Patient Participation Group Background

3W Health’s Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a forum of around 35 patients from the three surgeries of 3W Health in Whitchurch, Wing and Winslow. This group has replaced the individual PPGs that were previously associated with each surgery before the formation of 3W Health.

What does a PPG do?

The NHS requires every doctor’s practice to have a PPG to gather, analyse and report on patient feedback. An effective PPG collaborates with the practice to enhance the service for all patients. Typically, it’s led by volunteers and supported by the practice. The PPG should ideally represent the diverse patient population registered at the practice. While there are no strict guidelines on how a PPG should be run, most PPGs follow a similar structure. A PPG can decide how it operates depending on the number of members and its goals.

What doesn’t it do?

The PPG should not, and legally cannot, handle individual complaints. All practices, including 3W Health, have procedures in place for addressing complaints confidentially.

Is the PPG the only patient-based group for the practice?

No – while the Patient Participation Group focuses on providing the practice with patient perspectives on its activities, there is another group called the – the ‘Friends of 3W Health’ – that focuses on raising funds to support the practice by financing useful equipment for the surgeries.

Who’s in charge of a PPG?

The patient members of a PPG oversee its activities, typically led or guided by a small committee, in our case consisting of the PPG Chair, Secretary, and Project Leads. A successful PPG needs the support of the practice, and at 3W Health, this support comes from the Operations Manager and the Senior GP Partner.

PPG Meetings and Projects

PPG members typically meet 3 or 4 times a year for 1½ hours in the evening at Winslow Health Centre, though the schedule is flexible. Members also engage in smaller special interest groups on an ad hoc basis, meeting either in person or online to work on specific projects. We also have virtual members who contribute their views. Much of our project work is developed offline and shared via email among individuals and small groups.

What sort of projects?

Over the past couple of years, we have:

• Devised and run a 3W Health-specific Patient Satisfaction Survey of 4,000 patients
• Provided advice and awareness-raising sessions in the introduction of the new online appointment access system
• Provided ongoing feedback based on monitoring and analysis of the Friends and Family Test
• Launched and co-edited the 3W Health Practice Newsletter
• Critiqued the 3W Health website from the patient perspective and suggested improvements
• Reviewed and made recommendations to improve the 3W Health Complaints Policy and Procedures
• Designed and developed a support package for NHS App users
• Provided volunteer stewards for vaccination clinics
• Contributed to the local NHS Primary Care Strategy

Membership

Membership of the PPG is open to all registered patients of 3W Health. With over 20,000 registered patients, we have a wealth of talent and experience to draw from. We are always keen to hear from individuals of all ages, who have one or more of the following:

• Previous PPG experience
• NHS knowledge, especially in primary care and general practice
• Condition-specific patient support experience, e.g., Diabetes, Dementia, COPD groups,
• Carer experience
• Reporting, editing, and publishing skills to assist with written communications
• Media and technical skills to help with multi-media communications
• IT skills to help the PPG and 3W Health make the best use of technology
• The time and interest to actively participate in helping 3W Health staff provide the best possible care for all patients

PPG Member Registration

We do understand that some patients may not wish to attend face to face meetings but instead would be willing to be involved by being contacted, occasionally, via e-mail, to answer questions about how well the surgery is performing and to identify any areas for improvement.

If you are willing to join our Patient Participation Group please complete the following, identifying whether you wish to be a meeting or virtual member.