Marlborough Medical Practice has a fully functioning Patient Participation Group

 

The May meeting of Marlborough Medical Practice’s new Patient Participation Group (PPG) was chaired by one of its patient representatives – Amanda Giles from Wootton Rivers.  It was the first time that practice partner Dr Jenny Campbell, who has been overseeing the establishment of the Group, was not in the chair.

Members of the Group are firmly agreed that the PPG should be run by patients with the practice acting as facilitator for its work – and with the Practice’s Patient Services Manager, Amy Lacey, continuing to provide advice and administrative support.

Dr Campbell told Marlborough News Online: “The entire practice is really pleased to feel that the PPG is now established and looks forward to a good working relationship with the Group.”

The PPG became a necessary part of the Practice’s governance and care remit after the Care Quality Commission pointed out the lack of a PPG in its otherwise positive and complimentary inspection report in November 2013.

The Group was started in April 2014.  It has been busy finding volunteer members who currently number 23.  These members have been recruited to reflect the population that the Practice serves – both as regards its geographical spread and its demographic make up.  

They still have some work to do, but have representatives from nearly all of the surrounding villages, which are home to many of the Practice’s nearly 12,000 registered patients.

They have also found members of the Group to represent specific sections of the registered patients who are not normally able to take an active role in the Group – such as the elderly, young mums, those with mental health conditions, school-aged children and carers.  The Group meets every two months and in between meetings keeps in touch by email.

The PPG members are clear that they are all about feedback and communications in both directions.  That is they can tell the doctors what patients are telling them about the practice and ensure patients know about the practice’s services.

At the outset, it is important for people to know what the PPG is NOT there to do.  Members of the Group do not speak for the Practice, but simply have a desire to see its improvement and where necessary to lobby for changes.  And it is not a channel for complaints.

There is already an established complaints procedure – both online and with paper forms available at the Practice.  One of the PPG’s first tasks was to re-design the complaint forms so they have space for more general comments.

Patients can also use the Friends and Family Test to record their views about the Practice – much like the system now used in hospitals.  In the first three months of the year returns showed that 85, 87 and 67 per cent of patients said they were likely or extremely likely to recommend the Practice to friends and families if they needed similar care or treatment.

The Friends and Families Test forms can be found online here.  In the light of worries residents have been expressing about the town’s growing population and lack of attention to parallel growth in services, it is interesting that some patients who responded to this test have said they are ‘unhappy’ there is no alternative or competition for the Practice.

The PPG’s first annual report (which can be found online) has been sent to NHS England so that the Group’s aims, representation and geographical and demographic spread can be checked.  Once NHS England’s approval is given, the PPG is on its own.

One of the Group’s main tasks is to ensure that patients know what is available for them – such as the online appointment cancellations and booking or the same day consultation system – which is explained in the blue box below.

Amanda Giles puts it: “It is most important that we have a more open channel of communication – so we can ensure patients are given useful and up-to-date information – and so we can feed into the practice the good and the bad.”

Patients registered with the practice can send comments and suggestions about what they would like the PPG to discuss by email: MarlboroughPPG@gmail.com or by letter to: The Patient Participation Group, c/o Amy Lacey, Marlborough Medical Practice, The Surgery, George Lane, Marlborough, SN8 4BY

This is an example of the type of information the Practice is now giving out: “Did you know… If you have an urgent clinical problem, the practice will always see you on the same day. In fact, during March 2015, 1456 patients had a same day phone consultation and 697 patients had a same day face-to-face consultation with a clinician about an urgent health matter. To access same day care, please phone the practice and speak to a member of the reception team who will add your name and a description of your symptoms to our triage list. You will be offered a call back from our triage team, made up of experienced nurses and our GPs. Please ensure you provide our clinicians with details of your concern so they can establish if you need to be seen. Please also help us to contact you by providing the reception team with the most reliable telephone number on which you can be contacted. We appreciate that this may be a mobile number, but if possible a landline is best. There is no advantage in coming to the surgery instead of telephoning. If you do come to the surgery, our receptionists will advise you to leave a suitable number where we can contact you and ask you to return home.  So just call us, that way we can deal effectively with your specific needs.”