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DTHC PPG - Chairman's Report for 2015-16
v2 for September 2016 AGM
Another year has passed and you are owed report from the Patient Chairman of your Patient Participation Group (PPG). We’ve not had such a report (or for that matter an official AGM) before so this is all new – but required by our agreed ToR (Terms of Reference).
At the outset (some years ago now!) the Surgery set up, hosted and administered the patient group – as their contract encouraged them to do. As time has passed the appropriateness of a patient led group developed and I offered to be Chairman (for an initial six months) and we formalised Terms of Reference and the roles of chairman, vice chairman and secretary to put the group on an organised footing. We now have regular meetings, good minutes and good interaction with both the practice and our CCG (the Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group) as NAPP (the National Association for Patient Participation) suggest. The Practice have continued to support with the provision of a meeting space, copying, circulating information, payment of the annual NAPP membership fees, providing the required participation of a Practice member (GP and/or Practice Manager) for at least four meetings per year and in many other ways .
Now a report is required, I believe it is appropriate to both to look back at what has been achieved so far and also forward to what is to be planned for the future. This is a good time to agree - as a group (and with the Practice) - what we will actually do in the future and how it will be led and coordinated/managed.
Meetings
We have largely continued with our meetings every other month and commenced INTERIM MEETINGS to allow more time to develop items that members feel especially keen on.
The Surgery representatives (Practice Manager Ray Turnbull and GP Dr Wrixom) have continued to support and attended meetings where possible.
We appear to be one of the larger and (perhaps) more active groups in our area.
Membership
We have had eighteen members for some while now {a good deal more than many other groups in our area}. In the last year we lost two members (Teresa Woodburn and Peter Fisk) and gained one – so welcome to Barry Page- Staines. We were visited by our new Parish Councillor Tracey Johnson at our June Interim meeting and she is, it seems, looking to join us as she is also a Patient at the DTHC.
For recruitment - our latest initiative is to have members (in pairs) attend the surgery and talk to the patients in the waiting area to talk to them about the PPG and Virtual Group (the On-line Patient Forum), and ask them to complete a form with name / address / contact details and ask if they’d like to become involved in either group.
The drive here is to increase the on-line forum from about 80 to something like the numbers the Ongar Health Centre has achieved (3,000!) – so that meaningful surveys can be conducted for the CCG and to enable us to become more age and otherwise appropriate to the patients we have volunteered to represent.
Maintenance Activities / CCG Links
· We have continued ensure representation at the Brentwood Area (“Locality” in CCG speak) Public & Patient Engagement Group (PPEG) and Tim Hogan has replaced John Webb as a Vice Chairman of that Group. Tim and John (and any others who are interested and available ) attend the bi-monthly meetings. They also attend monthly (Breakfast) meetings with the other PEG Vice Chairman (John Lutchmiah - Chair of the Tile House PPG) and PEG Chairman (Malcolm Bigg - Chair of Rockleigh Court PPG, Member of PCRG and local champion for Diabetes patients), and the CCG Locality Manager (Lynne Powell – when her calendar permits). These sessions allow agenda setting t-[for the PEG and updates on the various other Patient Participation activities across both the Locality and CCG.
Tim has also quite recently been accepted as a patient member for the PCRG (the Patient and Community Reference Group) which includes CCG Board Members – the committee linking the PPEG and CCG Board – chaired by Alison Reeve a paid patient representative.
· Staff representatives for the Surgery (currently formally the Practice Manager and GP) have attended PPG meetings regularly.
· As far as possible we have:–
o ensured at least one member attends each CCG consultation / workshop including the Fit for the Future meetings etc.
o circulated all service surveys and questionnaires provided us by the CCG to both PGG members and the Virtual / Group/online Patient Forum.
o ensured the PPG members (and, where appropriate, the Virtual Group) are updated on all feedback from both PEG and PCRG meetings and workshops and other events
· We are now abiding by our “rules” (The Terms of Reference) and having an AGM, possible election (depending on nominations and the willingness of current officers to continue in post) and the annual review of the ToR themselves at our July meeting.
Notable Events in the Past Year
This is an area where we may be just a bit lacking. It has been a very busy time for the Surgery with staff changes, a CQC Audit etc but I am disappointed that there is not a significant list of achievements with patient involvement to record here.
We have begun to focus on a number of very specific topics – highlighting one or more members willing and interested in following specific items and will should now be looking to see what more we can do in this direction – see plans for the future (below).
We have created a new poster, asked for an additional notice board to better promote our presence and have fulfilled all the tasks which the surgery have asked to be involved in (ie NONE!)
Plans for the Future
· The PEG has asked all PPGs to work out what they’d like to do to promote Patient Participation with a view to having an “all Brentwood Surgeries Patient Participation Event at BCH in September. This needs our early consideration and (hopefully) positive action.
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· the CCG have circulated the web link to NAPP’s Building Better Participation guidelines http://www.napp.org.uk/bbp.html which would - to my mind – be good for the group to look at and see what further areas we are jointly keen and resourced to support.
o One section (Section 1 - “Getting PPGs in place”) deals with getting a group founded and establishing good relations with the surgery which we can build on
o Another (Section 4 – “Influencing beyond the GP practice”) deals with the links to/participation in CCG matters eg PEG / PCRG / workshops / events etc.- which is arguably one of our strengths
o The other two sections cover (2 “ Helping PPGs work well”) and (3 – Knowing and working with patients) are areas where we need to formulate an agreed approach.
I would suggest that the PPG members all look critically at the NAPP documents and we discuss further what is appropriate for us as a group – starting at the next meeting.
Conclusion and Recommendation(s)
It appears that NOW it is appropriate time to discuss and agree what exactly we want to do in the next year and who from the Patient Members we’d like to see in the positions of Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary, to drive this process.
I look forward to receiving your comments or any proposals you may have – and look forward to being with you at the next PPG meeting (our AGM and meeting) scheduled for Tuesday September 13th at 17:00 {finishing by 18:30 {if possible}).
John Webb (Patient Chairman - Deal Tree Health Centre)
Chairman's Report for 2015-16 - DTHC PPG (Final for 13.9.16)