We currently have an excellent Patient Reference Group. We are always looking for a good representation of our practice population which will be age, gender, ethnicity, health care needs and social situations.
This is an informal and friendly group who meet every quarter. The group is chaired by one of the patient members and this is done on rotation. GPs, Nurse and Practice Manager attend.
The current membership of our group stands at 12 members who range from young to 60+ and a mixture of workers, retired and unemployed as well as two disabled members. We aim to attract a wide variety of our practice population.
It is important that our group has a good representative or our patient population and to achieve this we advertise regularly to try and attract new members, we take every opportunity to include information when we send letters out to patients and include details in all our newsletters and leaflets. In addition to this all new patients joining the practice are asked to join.
The group is responsible for setting priorities in the practice. This is generally done by looking at the results of our patient surveys; practice issues or any issues raised by the group members. So far the group has been responsible for resolving issues around access, the new telephone system, the patient questionnaires and various other issues. More recently the group was responsible for the new electric front doors and the recently refurbishment of the surgery.
You don’t need any experience or qualifications. All we ask is that you are over 18 and you are genuinely interested in helping us to develop your surgery and provide services to a standard that you feel is acceptable.
There are a lot of changes in the way your surgery has to deliver services and this is where we need your help. We want to give our patients a voice and an active role — this is your surgery! This is your chance to become involved.