management
PPGs She suggested the surgery newsletter
as an opportunity to raise awareness about better use of GPs’ time. “The more I think about it and the more I read and talk to other people [I realise] we’ve got a real demographic time bomb; we’ve got a real ageing population; we’re going to need much more doctors’ time,” she said. “There’s not enough money for more doctors so we’ve got to look at a better way of using this valuable resource.” She called on the PPG committee to feedback on the self-care initiative. “So many people misunderstand it and get quite worried about it,” she continued. “They think it’s saying you don’t need the doctor anymore, it’s ‘do it yourself’. It’s not that at all. It’s about giving people much better information to know when they need something other than just to perhaps look online.” She explained that in the first instance, patients should speak to the pharmacist, the second might be to see a nurse, and the third to see a doctor. “It’s not about not having [a] doctor, it’s about using them appropriately as the very, very scarce resource that they are, so that when people really need to see a doctor, they can,” she explained. “It’s about using what we’ve got
They think it’s saying you don’t need the doctor anymore. It’s not that at all. It’s about giving people better information to know when they need something
in a much better way. I think we’ve just got to work out how we can get better information to people.” For example, the Self Care Forum talks about ‘information prescriptions’, where the doctor provides patients with facts on how to manage their condition, instead of medication. The practice manager added that it was, however, important to get the balance right – since some patients don’t come in when they should.
FUN AND GAMES TOO What was striking about this PPG is its dedication. The group has made it clear, with its knitted chicks and coffee mornings, that being a member is no chore. With this in mind, one member has liaised with a local choir master willing to start a singing group for patients on a weekday evening, with the suggestion that the choir could perform at the practice’s AGM and community open day. For this PPG, theirs is a worthwhile cause they will undoubtedly contribute to for years to come.
Additional words: Julia Dennison
february 2013 35
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