What is a patient participation group?
A patient participation group (PPG) is a group of patients with an interest in health and healthcare issues, who want to get involved with and support the running of their local GP practice and learn more about local healthcare.
Most PPGs also include members of practice staff and meet at regular intervals to decide ways of making a positive contribution to the services and facilities offered by the practice to its patients.
What can PPGs do?
PPGs decide their own activities according to the needs of the community and the practice itself. Examples of the some of the activities that PPGs can lead or be a part of 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
How to join?
Many of our local practices have PPGs. To find out more about your GP practice’s PPG or to ask about joining, contact your practice.
A full list of our GP practices and contact details can be found here.
