We are a group of Newgate Street registered patients who meet on the last Thursday of every month at 1pm and bimonthly with the staff to help provide a voice for patients to help encourage best practice.
At present the group has 10 members and are looking to expand and encourage people from all ages, ethnicities and genders who have a couple of hours spare each month and join us in finding new and exciting ways to support the Practice, promote the group and provide a positive experience for all. We are also hoping a younger demographic age group will show an interest and to this end we do want to offer alternative meeting times more suitable to those who cannot attend at 1pm.
The PPG are aware of the hard work all staff put into the Practice with improvements and changes, especially during the COVID pandemic and the re occurring outbreaks.
We can openly talk and discuss items patients have asked us to raise. From this our concerns have been recognised regarding the new telephone system in place. We were informed at our June meeting that dedicated staff are now only answering incoming calls and patients have fewer options to choose. The feedback from the changes we received at the meeting was positive, although we do not have direct feedback from patients themselves. This will be an item on the Agenda for our July meeting.
The new build fills us with excitement and have been kept up to date with the progress – we look forward to the completion.
We are kept abreast on staff changes, vacancies, and the evolving new practitioner roles. The group appreciate the feedback we receive at our bimonthly meetings with staff on matters raised.
In the past the PPG have volunteered their services in surveys, small audits to assess patient satisfaction of services, provision of newsletters, assistance in signposting patients and offering refreshments at annual Flu / COVID clinics and very much hope to build on our role.
Practice staff have given us great support with social media placing items of general interest on the Practice website and Facebook pages.
Our newly elected forward-thinking Chair is encouraging the PPG team to bring fresh ideas forward.
The thoughts we have are to invite staff to give a short presentation to give us a better understanding of their role on a bimonthly basis. A dedicated notice board has been provided where we can promote articles for example groups within our area, Young Carers, various carers groups in the area, information for Veterans, National issues, Mental Health groups in the area – a multitude of topics can be covered and will be changed on a regular basis.
Louise Chambers
Chair PPG
Newgate Medical Group
Next PPG Meeting
AGM meeting to take place – Thursday 25th April 2024 at 6.45pm – to be held in the boardroom at the NMG.