editor’s letter
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
www.roylilley.co.uk
MANAGING EDITOR
julia.dennison@
intelligentmedia.co.uk ASSISTANT EDITOR
carrie.service@
intelligentmedia.co.uk REPORTER
george.carey@
intelligentmedia.co.uk
CLINICAL EDITOR dr paul lamden
ACCOUNT MANAGER
george.petrou@
intelligentmedia.co.uk SALES EXECUTIVE
nazia.chishty@
intelligentmedia.co.uk PUBLISHER
vicki.baloch@
intelligentmedia.co.uk
DESIGNER
sarah.chivers@
intelligentmedia.co.uk
PRODUCTION/DESIGN
peter.hope-parry@intelligentmedia.co.uk CIRCULATION MANAGER
natalia.johnston@
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The clue is in the name P
PGs – they’re a chore, right? They’re a DES you need to have to recoup some of the funding you’ve lost in changes to the GMS contract, yes? Nope. Wrong. It seems patient participation groups can be an extra source of funding and then some. Interviewing a practice manager recently, we were invited to return to her practice to sit in on one of her PPG’s meetings – and it opened our eyes to the opportunities that await practices if they make the absolute most of this eager group of patients. Because, if you think about it, the very nature of a patient participation group is just that – it’s patients keen to participate, with a dedicated, vested interested in your practice. These are people who are willing to give up their free time to see your surgery improved, so it’s important to use them (in a nice way). If you read Carrie Service’s write-up on page 32, you’ll quickly get an idea of what an
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exemplary PPG can do. This group holds coffee mornings, fundraising raffl es, publishes a newsletter and is even organising a practice-wide singing group. And this is just the beginning: In future meetings, they plan to do so much more. These fundraising activities are both for the practice itself – buying it a couch and blood pressure machines – but they actively raise money for charities as well, thus helping the larger community. So if the new direction of the NHS is to see practices more as a community hub – a place that encourages health and wellbeing by giving patients more choice about their care – then actively hosting community gatherings is one way to make your point. There has been so much negative publicity in the run-up to the NHS changeover, that it’s high time patients are reassured that they are getting the care they want and deserve – they will benefi t, and so will the NHS’s coffers. Things like self-care will become easier when patients feel in the loop and your workload as a practice manager will become more manageable too since the right people will be seeing the GP at the right time. It’s all connected, and the minute practices realise that, the better off they’ll be. If they pass their CQC registration fi rst, that is…
EDITOR
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