In 2011 the Department of Health launched a new initiative to encourage Practices to engage more closely with their patients.
This is called the “Patient Participation Directed Enhanced Service”. Practices are encouraged to set up a Patient Participation Group as a way of fostering closer contact between the Practice and its patients.
The aim of the Patient Participation Group (PPG) is to facilitate a closer involvement with patients in the design and delivery of the healthcare services they receive.
The GP Partners that managed both Desborough Surgery and Hazlemere Surgery, supported the initiative, and set up a PPG in 2012.
The Desborough & Hazlemere Surgery PPG, over the years became a very well-established committee and a major asset to the Practice. The Group supported the surgery with information gathering through patient surveys, providing communication between the Practice and the local community, organising Open Days, attending meetings at County and National level, and monitoring patient feedback on social media.
Impact of the Covid Pandemic
Then the World was hit with the COVID Pandemic which has a drastic impact on the effectiveness of our PPG, due to communication barriers created by various lockdowns and the subsequent anxiety throughout the community to mix and socialise.
PPG Relaunch (January 2023)
Following a number of meetings with the GP Practices that make up Cygnet Primary Care Network (PCN), the decision was made to join forces and launch a Cygnet PCN PPG.
In January 2023 our first meeting was held at Downley Community Centre and our PCN PPG was born!
What is a Primary Care Network? – PCNs are groups of GP practices in the same area, all working together to deliver services for patients. The members of Cygnet PCN are Kingswood Surgery, Desborough & Hazlemere Surgery, Priory Surgery and Tower House Surgery. All four Practices are based in the High Wycombe area.
PRESENT DAY CYGNET PCN PPG
Over the past years the group and grown in strength and has over 10 patient members from the various Surgeries that meet on a quarterly basis. Recent projects coordinated by the group include a Patient Access Survey, volunteer support at the Networks weekly ‘Patient Coffee Morning’ and providing the Management of the Surgeries with informative feedback that has been essential in structuring the way in which how services are provided to the surrounding communities.
Although we have a proactive PPG, we are always recruiting new members to bring in fresh ideas, offer additional support to our patients and provide informative feedback to help shape our service delivery.
Join the CYGNET PCN PPG
If you think you could help and would like to become part of our Cygnet PCN PPG, then please fill in the ‘Join Our PPG’ form and a member of the team will contact you in the near future.
What will a PPG Member Do?
As a member of the Cygnet PCN PPG, we would ask that you attend our quarterly PPG meetings as a patient representative, providing feedback to us on our services and supporting our PCN as we continue to grow through taking part in patient information events, fundraising activities, and patient engagement initiatives.
Roles within the Cygnet PCN PPG include:
- Chairperson
- Vice Chairperson
- Secretary
- Social Media Officer
- Patient Relations Officer
- Fund Raising Officer
- Support Member
For more information on the various roles please see ‘PPG Roles & Responsibilities’ document or complete the ‘Join Our PPG’ form.