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020 8299 0499

Your voice

Join Our Patient Participation Group!

Our Patient Participation Group is chaired by patients and works with the practice to develop the services in the way our patients want us to. We have a highly active and enthusiastic team of patients and staff members that attend group meetings (we had 26 attendees at our last meeting). The group constructively discusses the service and considers ways to improve it. We are a very friendly team and we always make new faces very welcome.

Meet our Co-Chairs

"I have been a patient at Melbourne Grove Medical Practice for many years. In that time, I have seen the practice, and the local NHS, go through many changes. Having experienced many aspects of local NHS services, I decided to contribute to the developments by sharing my insights with the practice team and local patients. The Patient Participation Group at Melbourne Grove is a friendly team of patients and staff members alike. Dora and I share the role of chairing the group to ensure all patients' opinions are heard and addressed. I would love to see new members join our constructive team." Martin Saunders, Co-Chair, PPG, Melbourne Grove Medical Practice

"Like Martin, I have been registered with Melbourne Grove Medical Practice for over ten years. I became aware of the Patient Participation Group when I made a complaint to the surgery about a poor experience I had. I was invited to join the group and we worked together to improve the poor experience I had encountered. I am very pleased to have become joint chair. Together, we tackle topical issues and share our experiences with the practice team. I am particularly pleased to have been involved in the launch of the new diabetic support team. We are always looking at how the service can be more helpful and supportive to the public, and it is always great to see more people join us." Dora Dixon-Fyle, Co-Chair, PPG, Melbourne Grove Medical Practice

Our achievements

• Nominated chairs
  In November 2008 the group nominated Dora Dixon-Fyle and Martin Saunders to co-chair the group. Dora and Martin meet with practice management at regular intervals to ensure feedback in the group meetings is addressed.
• Increased hours of telephone consulting
  Patient indicated to us that they needed a wider range of hours of telephone consulting to avoid it clashing with working hours. We now provide telephone consulting into the evenings.
• Improved timeliness of telephone consulting
  Patients indicated that too often we would call them after the agreed time slot for the telephone consultation. We have since re-organised clinical diaries to improve time keeping. We now make telephone consultations more promptly.
• Tailored services for vulnerable groups
  We agreed to exempt vulnerable patients (for example, patients with learning disabilities, hard of hearing, or with limited understanding of English) from telephone consulting, and we produced posters advertising this across the reception area.
• Introduced Same Day Appointments
  Patients told us they found that the practice was too inflexible when they wanted to access care. For some patients it was inconvenient to receive a telephone consultation. Consequently, the group voted for same day appointments as the best alternative to telephone consulting. We piloted this for one month and surveyed patients using the new service. Patients surveyed were overwhelmingly supportive of this alternative to telephone consulting. Consequently, we have made the change permanent. Patient can now receive a telephone consultation or simply book a same day appointment; whichever they find more convenient.
• Introduced diabetic support group
  We reflected upon the increasing prevalence there is on diabetes and agreed we should do more to help. We held a diabetic support group meeting and we have agreed to set up a diabetic mentoring service. Click here to download news about the group.
• Audited and amended the patient experience
  A member of our patient involvement group volunteered her expertise in change management consultancy, free of charge, to interview 20 patients and 10 staff members. She fed the results of her analysis back to the management team, and it was then discussed with the patient group chairs. As a result of this insight, we have:
  • Produced new and more comprehensive material on the role of the nurse practitioner
  • Produced a script to guide the reception team on how to explain the role of the nurse practitioner and the appointments system
  • Commenced plans to refurbish the reception area
  • Conducted a full training needs assessment and personal development plan for our reception team

Join now!

Do you have an opinion or experiences you want to share with us? Do you want to be involved in the development of our services? If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you! We are always looking for new members and you are very welcome to get involved.

If you want to get involved click here or drop into reception and pick up a form from our staff.