What is a Patient Participation Group (PPG) & what can it do for you?

Help the Practice to Improve its Service

• Providing feedback (but not complaints) from patients, eg on how the surgery is performing.
• Monitoring the accessibility of practice communications, eg offering feedback on ways to improve the practice website, Newsletter & leaflets.
• Carrying out a practice survey into a variety of subjects, eg measuring patient satisfaction, health needs, awareness and expectations.
• Designing new services or help keep existing ones.
• Exploring the changing needs of patients.

Providing Information

• Organising health fairs.
• Offering handouts and support on special days, eg No Smoking Day.
• Taking control of a PPG newsletter to be designed and run by the group.
• Representing the practice locally and nationally when patient voices are needed.

Arranging Special Health Events

• Encouraging health education activities within the practice, eg training in basic first aid for patients.
• Increasing self awareness of particular illnesses, eg breast cancer.
• Training new patients to distinguish when to call for medical assistance and when to self-treat.

Representation

• Acting as representative group that can be called on to influence the local provision of health and social care.