North Beverley Medical Centre Patient Group

WHO ARE WE?

We are an advisory group of patients where members work voluntarily with the surgery, acting as 'critical friends' to help the practice improve services for everyone. The practice feels it is beneficial to have this patient involvement.

The group's constructive and challenging views aim to help the surgery to better understand the patient perspective and be more responsive in their service delivery in these times of change for the NHS.

WHY HAVE A GROUP?

General Practice is changing under new NHS initiatives and continues to face a variety of challenging government objectives and priorities. General practice remains the most commonly used point of access in the NHS.

Ninety percent of those who use general practice services will be diagnosed and treated without being referred for further specialist treatment. Current government  policy  aims to improve both the access and delivery of services locally and reflect greater patient choice.

As healthcare is being brought closer to the patient, our practice is required to 'deliver' more each year, with little or no increase in the resources available to them. It is therefore important  that these resources are used wisely and that the patient perspective - our perspective is considered.

WHAT THE GROUP DOES

The group provides a meeting point and enables us to work with the practice on a variety of areas , including such issues like:

• Considering service suggestions which could benefit  groups of patients or individuals
• Providing a patient perspective 
• Assist in evaluating and prioritising demands on our resources 
• Discuss and evaluate responses to patient satisfaction questionnaires and help form suitable ways and means to address patient concerns.
• Discuss and evaluate responses to patient satisfaction questionnaires and help form suitable ways and means to address patient concerns.
• Acting as a sounding board  for future surgery plans.
• Improving communications between patients and the surgery
• Considering specific operational issues that impact on patient care as raised.
• Acting as a meeting point to discuss patient concerns and to seek improvements and alternative courses of action.
• Provide patient representation and support for specific events.

Information from patient group meetings and discussions with practice staff will be displayed in our waiting area and on the practice website to let you know what work is currently being undertaken.

WHAT WE CAN'T DO

We are not here to facilitate individual agendas or personal complaints. Complaints must be made directly to the practice to comply with the standardised NHS Complaints Procedure and handled under a strict code of confidentiality. If you have a complaint, please either to speak to a member of the practice team or pick uo the practice information leaflet on complaints.

PATIENT GROUP MEETINGS

The group meets every three months, often on a Tuesday evening at 5.30 pm and lasts for just over one hour. Dates of forthcoming meetings can be found on our waiting room information board and on this page of the website.

MEMBERSHIP

Whilst the group aims to be representative of our patient experience, members are not considered delegates of the practice patients and all views expressed are based on feedback and our own experiences.

Ideally, the group should have a wide range of patients as possible in all age groups  (16 years+) and of course experience. Members are not required to have any specific qualifications, just a genuine interest in helping to get the best service for patients and providing all necessary support to the excellent staff within the practice.

VIRTUAL MEMBERSHIP

We are currently expanding the group to include a Virtual Group in addition to the Core membership which meets on a face to face basis. Any patient may volunteer to be a Virtual PPG member and there will be no limit  on the number of patients in this group.

Members will be contacted on-line and asked to respond to issues in a similar fashion.  Virtual members will also be offered the opportunity to help with projects and will be kept informed of all meeting decisions via the practice website,

GETTING INVOLVED

If you want more information or are interested in becoming either a Core member or a virtual member of the Patient Participation Group, please provide us  with your contact details either at reception or via the email below: 
EMAIL US

CORE PATIENT GROUP MEETING DATES

To be announced

MINUTES of MEETINGS