Falkland House Patient Participation Group Lynn Simmons Chair

FALKLAND HOUSE SURGERY Established in 1930’s 2 Doctors + 1 Trainee GP + Staff 4,000 patients (higher than average patients aged 65-85) Located in High Storrs in the Porter Valley Neighbourhood, south west of the City. Welcoming, friendly: patients stay

PATIENTS’ PARTICIPATION GROUP Held first formal meeting in March 2016 Confirmed Terms of Reference and Officials: 7 Members: Agreed to meet on a quarterly basis and to network with other agencies Registered with NAPP Formed a Steering Committee Produce quarterly newsletters and posters

PPG ACTIVITIES Met with Inspectors of the Care Quality Commission during Surgery Inspection (2016 & 2018) Fund raising: Christmas Quizzes First quiz: No local defibrillator – aim to secure funding to buy one Applied to British Heart Foundation and secured grant January 2017 Defib located outside surgery available 24/7 Accessed 3 times by South Yorkshire Ambulance Service Second Quiz: Purchased a Phlebotomy Chair for the Surgery; and dedicated PPG noticeboard Allocated PPG funds to cover costs of replacements for defib.

Part of BHF Grant request to provide CPR Training Activities……. Part of BHF Grant request to provide CPR Training PPG leafleted 220 neighbours publicising the defib and offering training – response poor – no training as yet Patients’ Survey – so few questionnaires returned that data not useful for statistical analysis. To try again later this year Digital Inclusion Project: met with Digital Inclusion Officer and promoted in surgery through posters and newsletters Urgent Care Proposals – petition in surgery:- 165 signatories: 132 patients not aware of proposals Do Not Attends – Green Man: posters and newsletters Surgery website – PPG section updated regularly CCG/PPG Network – attend all meetings since PPG formed

REFLECTIONS First year difficult – many changes at the Practice:- New patients following closure of Bents Green Surgery Long standing and much loved Doctor retired; new Partner joined Significant staffing changes [3 PMs in 1 year] No real engagement from the Doctors What’s the point? Become Virtual Only Doctors and PM now attend regularly

TO DATE Currently have 24 members – not all attend meetings 4 Virtual Members Cause to wonder why so few patients are interested. Emailed all GP Surgeries in Sheffield to connect with other patient groups. Low response – handful of replies Set up Porter Valley Neighbourhood Group

THIS COMING YEAR Annual General Meeting – last month Review of Surgery’s policies Meet the patients Potential for electronic information system in Reception Patients’ Survey

ISSUES and QUESTIONS GP’s have responsibility for setting up patient groups – it is a Contractual requirement. 68 patient groups in Sheffield. ???? If patients aren’t involved – where/how are they able to have a voice? Is the role of Patient Groups merely to interact with the Surgery – or to understand and engage patients more widely in NHS/CCG proposals? If it’s the latter – then how do we do this? The only support right now is from GPs who are interested, these Network meetings and online advice from NAPP 8

HOW CAN WE IMPROVE with the limited support we have???? Issues and Questions…… Sheffield Neighbourhoods Newsletter (May):- More discussion of Neighbourhood working at PPG meetings More active public and patient engagement in Neighbourhood development and identifying priority areas to address PPGs to have some representation at Neighbourhood steering group meetings PPGs to meet collectively as neighbourhood PPGs HOW CAN WE IMPROVE with the limited support we have???? 9

Issues and Questions…… If Patient Groups are to be more than a tick box for a CQC Inspection then some things need to change:- More consistent methods of sharing information Capacitate patient groups to effectively engage, manage activities and attract patients to the group. Follow through with patient group reps at appropriate meetings: - Neighbourhood Steering Groups etc. Provide help in patient group co-ordination and collaboration Motivate more GPs to engage more effectively Recognise that we are all volunteers Do more to publicly recognise and promote the added value of patient groups 10

We recognise our Patient Group is still relatively new and the issues we raise may have been addressed by others more experienced. However the sharing of knowledge, and understanding between us is important . If we work collectively can we achieve more?

Thank you for listening J 11