Patient Participation Groups are a feature of
Primary Care
Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care t ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. They offer patients an opportunity to be involved with and support their local
General Practice
General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be describe ...
.
History
The first group was established in 1972 by Dr Peter Pritchard. The National Association for Patient Participation was established in 1978. in 2016 around 1250 PPGs were affiliated to it. Payment for running a Patient Participation Group was built into the GP contract in England from 2011 until 2015. It was an enhanced service which attracted extra funding of 35p per registered patient. From April 2015 every practice is required to have a group, but there is no specific funding attached. Practices are required to make reasonable efforts for their group to be representative of the practice population.
Political involvement
The Vida Healthcare group of practices runs the largest practice in Norfolk, and has a Personal Medical Services contract. It is proposed to cut this funding by £250,000 over four years from 2016 to 2020. The Patient Participation Group is angry that they have not been consulted about this and is considering the possibility of legal action against
NHS England
NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...
.
Members of Patient Participation Groups are not always consulted about plans for their local services as they expect to be. Groups are generally very supportive of their practice.
References
{{reflist
External links
National Association for Patient Participation
Medical and health organisations based in the United Kingdom
Patient advocacy
Primary care