About the Patient Participation Group

Terms of Reference

Name
The Group will be called THE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP (PPG) of the Ampthill & Regents Park Practice.

Aims
To foster effective communication between the practice and its registered patients; and to promote patient engagement in the development of the practice.

Objectives

• To establish a clear and effective communication route between the surgery, and its patients, and to provide a choice of medium for patients to give feedback and comments about the practice to the PPG.
• To work in partnership with the practice to help patients take more responsibility for their health.
• To contribute to the continuous improvement of services and quality of care, and in the monitoring of current provision and levels of patient satisfaction.
• To provide practical support for the practice and help to implement change.
• To promote a patient led culture.
• As appropriate represent the patient voice beyond the Practice.
• To support the CQC inspection process.
• To challenge and support the Practice, to improve service delivery.
• To work towards a membership representative of the patient population.

Membership

• The group shall be made up of volunteers who are registered patients at Ampthill Practice or Regents Park Practice
• All members will contribute to an open, honest and constructive debate of patient issues.
• All members will work towards the aims and objectives of the PPG, and supporting fellow group members.
• All members will work towards meaningful, and beneficial, engagement between practice and patients.

Officers
PPG officers may be volunteer patient members, or practice staff, and are responsible for coordinating the PPG activities and also for feeding back from the PPG to the practice and facilitating the welcoming of new members.

There will be officers who have dedicated roles and responsibilities: 

• Chair - responsible for the running of the meetings, setting the agenda and ensuring that decisions are made.
• Vice Chair - responsible for assisting and supporting the chair. 
• Secretary - responsible for informing the wider membership of meetings and also for ensuring that minutes are taken.
• Treasurer - oversees the money of the group and any payments that it makes. The treasurer reports to the committee regularly about this.

All officers may take on the responsibilities of the other roles where necessary and these responsibilities may be assumed by other PPG members when an officer is not available or has delegated responsibilities as such.

Office holders will be elected at the annual general meeting of the PPG. All those wishing to stand will give 48 hours notice of their willingness, and all members will be notified by email in advance. The election will be held by the patient members present, either by show of hands or secret ballot, to be decided at the time.

Meetings

• Meetings will take place at the practice bi-annually, on a day agreed at the previous meeting alternating between daytime and evening meetings.
• At the end of each meeting any identified confidential items will be minuted separately.
• Meetings will be advertised through the practice website, and through notices in the surgery.
• Minutes of the meetings, with the removal of any confidential items, will be made available through the practice website. A paper copy of minutes from meetings over the past year will be available at the practice reception and on the practice website.
• In addition to regular meetings there may be special meetings called where the topic merits a dedicated meeting; or an urgent meeting.

General Meetings
Every year the group will have an annual general meeting (AGM). The first one will be held within the first 15 months of the group setting up.

Finances

• The practice allocates a level of funding to the PPG for each financial year.
• The practice will report to the PPG on this fund regularly.

Changing the Terms of Reference
The terms of reference will be reviewed on an annual basis. Amendments to the Terms of Reference can be made with a 2/3 majority vote at a general meeting of members.