Patient Participation Groups (PPG) Top tips for patient participation at your GP surgery

February 2019

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Introduction

Your surgery has a Patient Participation Group (PPG), in order to understand patient views and help improve services. It is important for PPGs to work for patients and the surgery.

The CCG regards it as good practice to have at least three to four PPG meetings per year.

From 1 April 2015, it has been a requirement in the GP Contract for all practices to have a PPG.

Top tips

It is recognised that a one-size fits all model will not work in Southwark due to variations across GP surgeries.

Here are some top tips to support surgeries and patients develop strong and vibrant PPGs, encourage more people to become involved in your PPG to help offer better service to patients and for patients to have a better understanding of how surgeries work.

• Benefits of a PPG

• Recruitment and advertising

• Preparing, supporting and chairing

• Agenda setting

• Other ways of engaging patients

• Resources

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Benefits of a PPG:

To patients

The importance of patient participation is becoming increasingly obvious to both patients and healthcare providers alike. Benefits to patients include:

• understanding and having a say on how your surgery works

• feeding back on what works well and what needs improving at your surgery

• learning new skills e.g. talking to or surveying other patients

• ensuring two-way communication with your surgery

• meeting new people

• providing peer support to other patients

• having a positive impact on your mental and physical health and improving your health outcomes

• supporting better management of your health.

To the surgery

When patients take an active role in their own wellbeing and participate in their healthcare choices, there can be significant benefits to the surgery, which include:

• providing an opportunity to listen to patients and providing a responsive service, leading to better patient satisfaction ratings

• testing and discussing potential changes before making them so that they work better for patients as well as the surgery

• responding to patient issues before they become problematic

• enabling the surgery to publicly demonstrate its commitment to patient engagement and having a positive reputation

• improved health outcomes for patients and less appointments

• supporting better CQC ratings.

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Recruitment and advertising

• Create a simple and clear flyer about your PPG, what it does and future meeting dates, including surgery contact details, and:

o display on the counter in reception o display on your PPG notice board o have in your consulting rooms for GPs and nurses to hand

out to patients they think would be interested in the PPG o display at local community centres, groups, churches,

mosques etc., pharmacies and other local businesses close to your surgery. See resources – pages 11-12 for some organisations.

• Have clear information about your PPG including dates and who to contact prominently displayed on your website. Contact the CCG’s membership and engagement team to link to the CCG’s GP PPG page.

• Include details of your PPG and how to join and link to the PPG section of your website as part of your information pack for new patients.

• Develop a ‘you said, we did’ poster for your PPG noticeboard and website to help your patients find out what has been done in response to their feedback. See Southwark CCG ‘you said, we did’ template.

• Proactively identify people from your list of registered patients who you think might be interested in joining your PPG and contact them.

• Contact patients who have provided feedback or made a complaint to see if they would be interested in joining your PPG.

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If they have taken the time to make a complaint they may be interested in providing feedback on other ideas / proposals.

• Create and continue to develop a PPG mailing list (email, text and / or post) of everyone who has shown an interest. Continue to include people and enable them to feedback via email even if they cannot attend meetings.

• If you have an electronic screen in your surgery, use this to promote your PPG and dates of meetings.

• Use the back of prescriptions to promote PPG, what it does and dates of meetings.

• If your surgery has a Facebook or Twitter account, use these platforms to promote your PPG and dates of meeting.

• Use other local social media and websites such as the SE1 forum, the SE16 community website, the Walworth SE17 twitter account, the SE5 forum for Camberwell, the Peckham Peculiar, the East Dulwich Forum or the Love Nunhead website.

• You can also make links with your relevant Community Council and use their mailing lists, Facebook pages or have an information stall at one of the meetings. Invite active PPG members to help staff information stalls.

• Encourage active PPG members to promote the PPG by word of mouth and with flyers to patients in the waiting room and ask them to promote to family and friends who are also registered at your surgery.

• Use the my PPG forum (a PPG chat forum with a Southwark PPG Network group) to recruit members and share ideas.

• Remember your patients and PPG members are a great resource for your surgery, so maintain members’ interest and consider their ideas to retain their loyalty.

• Try and ensure your PPG is representative of your surgery and local population – not just individual personal interests.

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• Younger people may prefer to interact virtually e.g. through social media or Southwark Youth Council, so reach out to them regularly.

• People who work have less time to offer – involve them in shorter interactions, such as asking for views via texting with a link to the surgery website, via email or push notifications. Push notifications are effective in their ability to drive app engagement, both by reminding users that they have the GP surgery app and by enabling GP surgeries to offer health and wellbeing tips.

• Donate magazines, children’s books/toys and label these items noting name of your GP surgery e.g. ‘Donated by Nunhead Surgery PPG‘.

Preparing, supporting and chairing PPG meetings

• A well run and organised PPG can make the whole meeting more enjoyable for everyone. Having ground rules and clear terms of reference as well as a strong chair can help with this.

• Before the meeting:

o plan and time the agenda and this needs to be jointly agreed between the surgery and the patient chair (if there is one), ensuring there is space for both surgery and patient comments, as well as feedback from and agreed updates to report to locality PPGs

o distribute agenda and minutes of previous meeting to those on your PPG mailing list (at least a week before the meeting) and ensure they are on your website

o organise some light refreshments (e.g. tea, coffee, biscuits).

• The role of the PPG chair is important as they help the meeting to run smoothly and efficiently, ensuring

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o members are clear of the purpose of the meeting o all items on the agenda are introduced and discussed and

any speakers are introduced o everyone’s views are heard o clear decisions are reached or discussions summarised at

the end of every agenda item o meetings start and finish on time, thanking people for their

time and contributions.

• The PPG chair is often a patient but may need support from the practice manager whose role is vital to encourage positive support from all surgery staff and who, on the day, can: o make sure the meeting space, refreshments and papers are

ready so the meeting can start on time o help welcome members along with the chair o mediate any difficult behaviour.

• Remember everyone can learn how to chair well. Look out for CCG training on running successful PPG meeting including chairing skills.

• After the meeting, it is good practice to:

o produce and circulate draft, clear minutes as soon as possible, with all decisions and actions clearly noted (check for accuracy with speakers)

o respond to questions and queries as soon as possible o start taking actions forward as soon as possible o send out any additional information (i.e. presentations from

speakers).

• Consider regular GP attendance to promote senior buy-in from the surgery. This also demonstrates that the surgery places importance on the role of the CCG.

• Consider holding your PPG meeting in a local community centre to attract new members.

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• Explore key strengths of PPG members, so that roles e.g. minute taking, can be allocate efficiently.

Agenda setting

• The agenda needs to be jointly agreed between the surgery and the patient chair (if there is one) ensuring there is space for both surgery and patient issues as well as feedback from and feeding into locality PPGs and should also include:

o start and finish times as well as timings for other agenda items as this can make the meeting easier to manage

o speakers’ names, titles and roles

o note date, time and venue of next meeting.

• Agendas and minutes from previous meetings should be produced and circulated prior to each PPG meeting (at least a week beforehand), so members arrive knowing what is to be discussed and with sufficient background information to make relevant contributions.

• Agenda items can include:

o Any changes the surgery is considering o National GP survey results (published in July every year) o The surgery’s Friend and Family Test results and themes o The surgery’s appointment system and how it works from

surgery and patient perspective o Online services o How the 8 – 8 (the Extended Primary Care Service) works

with your surgery’s appointment system

o Group consultations

o Patient identified challenges

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o Developing and using online/digital platforms and encourafing patients to use them

o Changes to appointment systems before they happen

Engaging patients through social media

• Think about whether your GP surgery wants to develop and use Twitter or Facebook

• Be clear on which social media platform you’re using

• You need to post and tweet regularly - at least once a day – for maximum impact

• You can repost or retweet relevant information from other organisations like Southwark CCG

• Look out for CCG training for GP surgeries and patients

• Be clear about what your social media account is used for every single time you post, upload, share a story or film a live video

• Be clear on who will be managing your social media account

• Provide relevant content and messaging – adopt a consistent approach

• Build loyalty and support over time, because happy patients give positive testimonials

• Don’t get into an argument online with any patient commentator

• By using social media to maximum advantage, PPGs can grow their patient base and maintain a positive online presence

• Know your audience – if your social media post is talking to everyone, it is, in effect, speaking to no one. Make sure you’re adding value for your ‘likers’ and ‘followers’ in every post in an authentic manner. If patients don’t think you are speaking directly to them, they will tune out or—in social media terms—keep scrolling.

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• To be successful on social media, focus on the social media platform patients are using, so your post can reach them effectively. For example, create a Facebook group to support local health and wellbeing initiatives e.g. fitness and nutrition group, book club, film club, gardening club etc.

• Create effective ‘call to action’ in every post – this means telling your audience what you would like them to do. For example: ‘Experts say, involving people in their own health and care improves result.’ Good patient engagement promotes effective two-way dialogue. Are you a member of your GP surgery Patient Participation Group (PPG)? Email your GP surgery or visit our website to join your PPG today. The ‘call to action’ is, ‘email or visit to join your PPG today.’

• Remember: posting just to post is a wasted effort.

Other ways of engaging patients

• Organise health fair events on health and wellbeing topics e.g. health screenings, tips for physical activity, mental health awareness, diabetes workshops etc., depending on what would be most beneficial to wider patients at your GP surgery.

• Organise a themed event to help with the promotion of your health event. For example, you could tie your event in with a national awareness campaign, such as World Heart Day, Stress Awareness Month, Carers Week, Diabetes Week, Breathe Easy Week, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Movember (raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide), Dry January, Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Mental Health Awareness week etc. See Public Health England’s webite for latest campaigns. For

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example, Health Matters – preventing cardiovascular disease, saving hearts and minds together. NHS Employers has a useful calendar of national campaigns on their website

• Promote surgery open days, coffee mornings or ‘bring and share’ days to nurture community spirit and pride in your local surgery – this can be very important in areas with a high number of temporary residents.

• Invite demonstrations around healthy eating and lifestyle to promote opportunity for better health and wellbeing - a great way for local people to engage, interact, learn and enjoy!

• Start a healthy walking group through a local park or a gardening project at the surgery – space permitting.

• Form links with local time banks or other volunteering activities, to encourage patients to take part in local ‘skills swap’ - an alternative currency system in which hours of service take the place of money. This is a great way to get jobs done, make friends and save money.

• Promote your wellbeing ideas to surgery leadership well in advance and ensure you have their support. Involving leadership and practice managers in your planning is vital to encourage staff to participate and engage in your health and wellbeing event.

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Resources

• MY PPG chat forum http://www.myppg.co.uk/

• National Association of Patient Participation - the CCG

arranges for all surgeries to be a member of NAPP

https://www.napp.org.uk/intro.html

• GP Survey website https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/

Local voluntary and community sector organisations

• Community Southwark https://communitysouthwark.org/

• Time and Talents http://www.timeandtalents.org.uk/

• Blackfriars Settlement http://www.blackfriars-settlement.org.uk/

• Pembroke House https://pembrokehouse.org.uk/

• Cambridge House http://ch1889.org/

• Pecan https://www.pecan.org.uk/

• Copleston Centre https://www.coplestoncentre.org.uk/

• Paxton Green Time Bank http://www.pgtimebank.org/

• HOurBank, Peckham

http://www.timebanking.org/location/hourbank-peckham/

Local community forums across Southwark

• SE1 community forum http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/

• SE 16 community website http://www.se16.com/

• Walworth SE17 Twitter @se17

• SE5 forum for Camberwell http://www.se5forum.org.uk/

• The Peckham Peculiar http://peckhampeculiar.tumblr.com/

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• Love Nunhead http://lovenunhead.co.uk/

Southwark Council Community Councils

• Southwark Council community council pages

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/engagement-and-

consultations/community-councils

• Southwark Youth Council (SYC)

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/childcare-and-

parenting/southwark-youth-council

NHS Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group web pages

• GP PPG page http://www.southwarkccg.nhs.uk/get-

involved/Join%20a%20group/Pages/GP-Practice-Patient-

Participation-Groups.aspx

• PPG resources / top tips for PPGs

http://www.southwarkccg.nhs.uk/news-and-

publications/meeting-papers/locality-ppgs/Pages/default.aspx

• 8 – 8 service http://www.southwarkccg.nhs.uk/your-

health/health-services-in-southwark/Pages/Extended-Primary-

Care-Service-.aspx

• Southwark CCG engagement guide

http://www.southwarkccg.nhs.uk/news-and-

publications/meeting-papers/governing-body-

committees/Engagement%20and%20Patient%20Experience%

20Committee%20Meetin/ENC%20Bi%20-

%20Engagement%20guide%20for%20CCG%20staff%20-

%20Draft%20-%20April%202018.pdf

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Further support and advice

Further support and advice is available from the CCG’s Membership and Engagement Team:

Email: souccg.southwark-ccg@nhs.net

Telephone: 020 7525 7888

Web: www.southwarkccg.nhs.uk