How many Rochdale borough GP practices have an active Patient Participation Group?
The work was carried out after Healthwatch Rochdale received feedback from Rochdale borough residents that their GP practice did not have an active PPG. Healthwatch Rochdale’s Advisory Group then made the decision to investigate which GP practices in the Rochdale borough had an active PPG.
The findings show that:
28% of GP practices have an active PPG
28% said they were due to restart their PPG
44% do not have an active PPG
A PPG is a group of patients, carers and GP practice staff who meet to discuss practice issues and patient experience to help improve the service.
Since April 2015, it has been a contractual requirement of NHS England for all GP practices to have a PPG and to make reasonable efforts for this to be representative of the practice population.
Whilst undertaking the work Healthwatch Rochdale also identified the following issues:
- Difficulty getting through on the phone
- Lack of staff awareness as to what a PPG was
- Limited PPG information on GP websites
Healthwatch Rochdale have made six recommendations to Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care and a formal response has been received.
PPGs give patients the opportunity to meet with staff to discuss practice issues and use patient experience to improve service. With the changes that are currently taking place within Primary Care we recognise that PPGs are one of the best ways to get people involved and have a say when decisions are being made that affect their healthcare. We welcome the response we have received from our findings and look forward to seeing all PPGs reinstated by April 2023