Key factors for effective patient participation groups
Download (PDF 598.79 KB)Summary of report content
A Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a group of patients, working in partnership with their GP practice to improve services and to enable patients to look after their own health.
From 1st April 2016, it has been a contractual requirement for all English practices to form a Patient Participation Group. Most practices in Leeds have a group but the number of participants, frequency of meetings and feedback methods vary. Some work has been undertaken nationally by the National Association for Patient Participation to review how PPGs work but locally only limited work has been carried out. Healthwatch Leeds has been invited by the Leeds North Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to carry out a project which will help to share what works well in PPGs and where more support may be helpful for them.
Eight practices in the north Leeds area were selected by Leeds North CCG to give a good variety of size of practice, demographic of patients and geographic spread for this project. Healthwatch Leeds arranged interviews with the person who coordinated the PPG, the PPG members and the patients of the respective practices.
Healthwatch Leeds conducted 52 face to face or telephone interviews with staff and patients between August and November 2016. Healthwatch Leeds spoke to 8 staff who coordinate the PPG in the selected practice; 11 PPG members and 32 patients across these surgeries. The questionnaires we used for each group of interviewees are available on request or can found on the website with this report.
The key findings within the report informed the key areas: PPG basic structures and method of operation; what is already working well in
these groups; what are the key factors for a good and effective PPG; what challenges are they facing; what support have PPG members
received.
Their are 17 recommendations which are documented in the report.