A Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a group of people who are patients of the surgery and want to help it work as well as it can for patients, doctors and staff.
From April 2016, it has been a contractual requirement for all English GP practices to form a PPG and to make reasonable efforts for this to be representative of the practice population.
The development of the PPG is down to the individual GP practice and they become responsible for all aspects of its functionality, from timescales, to membership, to roles and responsibilities. Each practice has information pertaining to their PPG on their local website.
National Association of Patient Participation (NAPP)
Whilst membership to a PPG is the responsibility of the practice, the NAPP website states there are a number of ways PPGs can benefit their local GP surgery. These include:
- Advising the practice on the patient perspective.
- Organising health promotion events.
- Communicating with the wider patient body.
- Running volunteer services and support groups to meet local needs.
- Carrying out research into the views of those who use the practice (and their carers).
- Influencing the practice or the wider NHS to improve commissioning.
- Fundraising to improve the services provided by the practice.
Useful resources
The Patients Association
An organisation that has useful information for the patient to access. Key website links and relevant PPG information for the local community can be accessed below.