What to put on your patient participation group page

What the contract says

Regulation 26 of the GMS Contracts Regulations says your practice must have a patient participation group, made up of some of your registered patients, to gather patients’ views on your services. Each year you must:

• make reasonable efforts to review the membership, so the group represents your patients;
• meet or engage with the group as often as you’ve agreed with it;
• review patient feedback with the group and agree any improvements; and
• make reasonable efforts to carry those improvements out.

NHS England’s updated You and your general practice now tells patients they can share feedback with, or join, their practice’s PPG, so more patients will look for yours.

What to include on the page

1. What the group is, in one sentence. “A group of patients who help us improve the practice.”
2. Who can join. Any registered patient, and carers. Say you’d especially like to hear from groups you don’t hear from yet.
3. How it works. How often it meets, where, and whether people can take part online or by email instead.
4. How to join. A short online form or an email address. Not “ask at reception”.
5. What’s changed because of it. A short “You said, we did” list is the best recruitment tool you have.
6. Meeting notes. Recent minutes, as web pages or short summaries rather than long PDFs.

Reaching more patients

Many PPGs struggle to attract younger patients, working people, carers and people from minority communities. Ways that help:

• Offer a “virtual” membership: people answer a few questions by email or online a few times a year.
• Link to the PPG from your homepage, your news and your Friends and Family Test page.
• Ask clinicians to mention it, and add a line to your text messages after appointments.
• Hold some meetings in the evening or online.