Patient Participation Group

Ashworth Street Patient Participation Group was formed in October 2011. It is made up of 15 members representing a broad cross-section of patients within the Practice. This group meets on the first Wednesday of alternate months to discuss issues of interest or concern regarding the policies and procedures of the Practice.

We present the patients’ viewpoint to the partners. We produce minutes of every meeting and publish regular newsletters to keep the patient community informed of our work. We also conduct patient questionnaires – so that patients can feedback their views and opinions on the services provided at the Practice. Results of the questionnaire are published on the website, through the noticeboard and the newsletters. Partners and visitors from outside the Practice deliver presentations on topics of interest as well as keeping the group abreast of current issues within the NHS and General Practice.

We hope the Patients’ Group provides an important pivotal link between the partners and patients of the Practice.

The PPG has its own dedicated notice board inside the surgery on the ground floor. If you have any ideas, suggestions, improvements or concerns and you would like the PPG to look at these on your behalf, just pop them into the suggestion box attached to the notice board.

ASHWORTH STREET SURGERY PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP (APG)

Introduction and Background

Ashworth Street Surgery has a responsibility to ensure it involves its patients in relevant issues to the Practice and to respond appropriately to the views and experiences of patients. Consequently, it has recently established a patient’s participation group which is named Ashworth Street Patient Group (APG).

The purpose of the Group is to bring together patients, doctors and members of the Practice team to work together, in partnership, in order to promote the wellbeing of patients and support the Practice to provide a high quality of care and service.

Ashworth Street Surgery provides a range of primary care services to its patients in the Rochdale District and serves a population of approximately 14,500 patients.

“Ashworth Street Patient Group (APG) is made up of 15 members representing a broad cross section of patients within the Practice. This Group will meet at regular intervals to discuss issues of interest or concern regarding the policies and procedures of the Practice and will present the patients viewpoint to the partners. Subgroups will investigate some matters in greater detail before reporting back to the main APG and it is hoped that partners and visitors from outside the Practice will deliver presentations on topics of interest.

In time it is expected that the APG will provide a pivotal link between the partners and the patients of the Practice.

In addition to the APG there is a larger database of patients who have shown an interest in providing suggestions for the Group without necessarily being involved in the detailed discussions.”

What follows is a draft Terms of Reference for the APG which will be discussed and agreed at a meeting of the APG and will be reviewed annually from the date of its commencement.

Title of the Group

The group shall be called The Ashworth Street Patients Group (APG).

The Purpose of the Ashworth Street Patients Group (APG)

The aims of the Group are to promote co-operation between the Practice and its patients and contribute to the continuous improvement of service.

The purpose of the Ashworth Street Patients Group is to establish a system of communication with all the registered patients in the practice so that a) their views and concerns are fed back into the Practice and b) news and information from the Practice is communicated to the patients.

The Key Tasks and Objectives of the APG are to:

• Represent the views of the patient body, ensuring patients’ needs are considered in the planning and development of the current and future services of the Practice.

• Be kept informed of relevant and appropriate Practice policies which impact on the development and provision of services to patients.

• Express opinions on relevant and appropriate Practice policies on behalf of the patients and so contribute to Practice decision-making.

• Comment on service development and provision and assist in the assessment and evaluation of community medical needs.

• Promote good health and higher levels of education by encouraging and supporting activities within the Practice.

• Advise the Practice on the education needs of the community by encouraging and supporting activities within the Practice to promote preventative medicine and healthy lifestyle choices.

• Seek to ensure that patient information and advice are ready and available and clearly presented through all available channels.
• Serve as a ‘safety valve’ for dealing with grumbles and complaints about the Practice – representing patients but also helping them to understand the Practice’s point of view.

• Provide a means for patients to make positive suggestions about the Practice and their own healthcare.

• Seek the views and interest of all patients groups, for example patients with specific illnesses or conditions, patients with disabilities, young working families, patients from ethnic minorities.

• Contribute to the design of and participate in the review of the Practice patient surveys.

• Work in partnership with the Practice to influence and improve the provision of secondary healthcare and social care locally.

• Engage with patients about seeking their advice for future service development and shifting of services from secondary care and social care locally.

• Liaise with other Patient Participation Groups in the area in order to share and spread good practice.

Membership of the APG and Meetings

• Membership of the Group is voluntary. There will be 15 members on the Group. The Group is open to all patients registered at the Practice, however, there should be a good geographical spread to represent the Practice population and the Practice will make efforts to encourage a spread of membership in terms of age, gender and ethnicity in order to ensure representation of the community the Practice serves.

• The Group will elect a Chair, a Vice Chair and a Secretary annually. The secretary will take the minutes, which will be circulated to all members, partners and relevant parties and made available to any patients on demand.

• The Group will invite the Practice Manager to all meetings of the APG to all meetings of the APG to advise and inform the Group.

• Administrative support to the Group will be provided by the Practice.

• Members will be asked to resign if they are absent from three consecutive Group meetings, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

• The Group will invite Partners, or other appropriate guests, to address the Group in order for the Group to be fully informed of Practice matters and other relevant developments.

• All meetings will be held at Ashworth Street Surgery in the conference room.

• The APG will be responsible for the agenda and minute taking of meetings.

• All members will be contacted in advance of each meeting and invited to forward agenda items.

• Minutes will be made available on both the website and the Practice notice board.

• Membership will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Meeting Ground Rules

• Meetings of the Group are not forums for individual complaints or individual patient issues.

• The Group advocates open and honest communication and challenge between individuals.

• The Group will be flexible, listen, ask for help and support each other.

• The Group will demonstrate a commitment to delivering results, as a group.

• The Group seeks to acknowledge that all views are valid and will be listened to, but must be put through the Chair.

• The Chair will ensure that meetings will start and finish on time and that the meeting will adhere to the agenda.

Quorum and Frequency of Meetings

• The meeting will be quorate when five or more members of the Group are in attendance.

• If five or more members are not present, or cease to be present during the course of the meeting, the meeting will be adjourned.

• The Group will meet bi-monthly on the first Wednesday of the month (or the earliest Wednesday when Bank Holidays occur).

• Dates of APG meetings will be made available to patients by way of the Practice website and notices at the Practice.

Confidentiality

All members of the Group will be expected to adhere to strict rules of confidentiality and no confidential or sensitive information will be discussed outside the meeting.

Declaration of Interest

As a body representing the public, all members of the APG shall be required to declare at each meeting/the first meeting of any year any interest which may conflict with matters being discussed. For the avoidance of doubt, an interest is a connection, direct or indirect, financial or non-financial with another body or organization such as it may be presumed to influence the behaviour and opinions of an individual.

Review

The Terms of Reference will be reviewed on an annual basis.

The Ashworth Street Patients’ Group (APG)

Introduction & Background

Ashworth Street Surgery has a responsibility to ensure it involves its patients in relevant issues to the Practice and to respond appropriately to the views and experiences of patients. Consequently, it established a patients’ participation group which is named Ashworth Street Patients’ Group (APG) in October 2011.

The purpose of this Group is to bring together patients, doctors and members of the Practice team to work together, in partnership, in order to promote the wellbeing of patients and support the Practice to provide a high quality of care and service delivery.

Ashworth Street  Surgery  provides  a  range  of  primary  care  services  to  its  patients  in  the Rochdale District and serves a Practice population of approximately 14,500 patients.

“Ashworth Street Patients’ Group (APG) is made up of 15 members representing a broad cross section of patients within the Practice. This Group will meet at regular intervals to discuss issues of interest or concern regarding the policies and procedures of the Practice and will present the patients’ viewpoint to the partners. Subgroups will investigate some matters in greater detail before reporting back to the main APG and it is hoped that partners and visitors from outside the Practice will deliver presentations on topics of interest.

It is expected that the APG will provide an important pivotal link between the partners and patients of the Practice.

In addition to the APG there is a larger database of patients who have shown an interest in providing suggestions for the Group without necessarily being involved in the detailed discussions.”

What follows is the Terms of Reference for the APG which was agreed at a meeting of the APG and which is reviewed annually.

Title of the Group

The Group shall be called The Ashworth Street Patients’ Group (APG).

The purpose of The Ashworth Street Patients’ Group (APG).

The aims of the Group are to promote co-operation between the Practice and its patients, and contribute to the continuous improvement of services.

The purpose of the Ashworth Street Patient Group is to establish a system of communication with all the registered patients in the Practice so that a) their views and concerns are fed back into the Practice and b) news and information from the Practice is communicated to the patients.

The Key Tasks and Objectives of the APG are to:

• represent the views of the patient body, ensuring patients’ needs are considered in the planning and development of the current and future services of the Practice
• be kept informed of relevant and appropriate Practice policies which impact on the development and provision of services to patients
• express opinions on relevant and appropriate Practice policies on behalf of the patients and so contribute to practice decision-making
• comment on service development and provision and assist in the assessment and evaluation of community medical needs
• promote good health and higher levels of health education by encouraging and supporting activities within the Practice
• advise the Practice on the education needs of the community by encouraging and supporting activities within the Practice to promote preventive medicine and healthy lifestyle choices
• seek to ensure that patient information and advice are readily available and clearly presented through all available channels
• serve as a ‘safety valve’ for dealing with grumbles and complaints about the Practice – representing patients but also helping them to understand the Practice’s point of view
• provide a means for patients to make positive suggestions about the Practice and their own healthcare
• seek the views and interests of all patients’ groups, for example patients with specific illnesses or conditions, patients with disabilities, young working families, patients from ethnic minorities, members of the LGBT community and other vulnerable groups (for instance homeless patients)
• contribute to the design of and participate in the review of the Practice patients’ surveys
• work in partnership with the Practice to influence and improve the provision of secondary healthcare and social care locally
• engage with patients about seeking their advice for future service development and shifting of services from secondary care to the primary care setting
• liaise with other Patient Participation Groups in the area in order to share and spread good practice
• send a representative from Ashworth Street Patients’ Group to actively engage in any cluster or Boroughwide Patients’ group, e.g The Locality meeting in order to learn from others and share good practice

Membership of the APG and Meetings

• Membership of the Group is voluntary. There will be 15 members on the Group. The Group is open to all patients registered at the Practice, however, there should be a good geographical spread to represent the Practice population and the Practice will make efforts to encourage a spread of membership in terms of age, gender and ethnicity in order to ensure representation of the community the Practice serves. The Group will consider increasing membership, if in doing so it will improve the balance of ethnic minority and male representatives
• The group will elect a Chair and Vice Chair. The Group will elect a Secretary annually. The Secretary will take the minutes, which will be circulated to all members, partners and relevant parties and made available to any patients on demand
• The Group will invite the Practice Manager to all meetings of the APG to advise and inform the Group
• Administrative support to the Group e.g. photocopying will be provided by the Practice
• Members will be asked to resign if they are absent (without giving apologies) from three consecutive Group meetings, unless there are extenuating circumstances
• The Group will invite Partners, or other appropriate guests, to address the Group in order for the Group to be fully informed of Practice matters and other relevant developments
• All meetings will be held at Ashworth Street Surgery in the Conference Room
• The APG will be responsible for the agenda and minute-taking of meetings
• All members will be contacted in advance of each meeting and invited to forward agenda items.
• Minutes will be made available on both the website and will be displayed on the Practice notice board
• Membership will be reviewed on an annual basis

Meetings Ground rules

• Meetings of the Group are not forums for individual complaints or individual patient issues
• The Group advocates open and honest communication and challenge between individuals
• The Group will be flexible, listen, ask for help and support each other
• The Group will demonstrate a commitment to delivering results, as a group
• The Group seeks to acknowledge that all views are valid and will be listened to, but must be put through the Chair
• Where decisions need to be voted on, a simple majority vote will be adopted
• The Chair will ensure that meetings will start and finish on time and that the meeting will adhere to the agenda.

Quorum and frequency of meetings

• The meeting will be quorate when seven or more members of the group are in attendance
• If seven or more members are not present, or cease to be present during the course of the meeting, the meeting  will be adjourned
• The group will meet  bi-monthly on the first Wednesday of the month (or the earliest Wednesday when Bank Holidays occur)
•  Dates of APG meetings will be made available to patients by way of the Practice website and notices at the Practice

Confidentiality

All members of the group will be expected to adhere to strict rules of confidentiality and no confidential or sensitive information will be discussed outside the meeting. As and when specific confidential issues are discussed it may be deemed necessary for APG members to sign a document which confirms that they will adhere to the strict requirement for confidentiality.  It is expected that APG members will conduct themselves in a ‘professionally acceptable’ manner and that should any disagreement or conflict arise, individuals will refer the matter to the Chair and/or the Practice Manager in order for resolution to be sought.  It will be totally unacceptable to discuss issues from the APG or the Practice to third parties or other organisations.

Declarations of Interest

As a body representing the public all members of the APG shall be required to declare at each meeting interest which may conflict with matters being discussed. For the avoidance of doubt, an interest is a connection, direct or indirect, financial or non- financial with another body or organisation such as it may be presumed to influence the behaviour and opinions of an individual.

REVIEW

The Terms of Reference will reviewed on an annual basis, however as the Group evolves it may be necessary to amend the Terms of Reference more frequently.