Patient Participation Group (PPG)

The SMG Patient Participation Group work voluntarily to provide a two-way communication between patients and staff and supports the practice in improving the service provided to patients. We aim to represent patient views and provide the means for patients to make positive constructive suggestions about the practice.

The PPG group consists of registered patients, Operations Manager and a GP. The group meet to suggest positive ideas and voice concerns usually every two months in the evening at one of our surgeries.

The aim of our PPG is to provide the following:

• Provide an opportunity for patients to make positive and constructive suggestions/ideas about the practice
• Work positively to help identify any problems and engage with the practice to seek solutions.
• Liaise with the practice to provide practical support and to help patients take more responsibility for their own health.
• Help the practice to deliver change.
• Support the practice in its aim for excellence.

At the meeting of the PPG on 9 Jul 2024, among other administrative matters, the following items, which may be of interest to Swan Medical Group (SMG) patients were discussed:

• Digitally excluded patients
  It is estimated that potentially up to 8000 Swan patients may be uncomfortable using digital devices or may not wish to do so. Dr Kershaw advised the PPG that patients can choose their preferred method of communication i.e. phone/text/email, though it will take time to get all patients categorised. Hard of hearing/deaf patients currently communicate with their GP by text and email. NHS England is currently updating their coding system which will make it easier to identify patients with additional communication needs.
• Surgery update
  The PPG reviewed the appointment numbers update and numbers of ‘Did not attends’ which have also been published in the recent Swan newsletter.
• Pharmacy First
  The Pharmacy First service has been enormously helpful and the SMG (Swan Medical Group) has a particularly good relationship with, and confidence in, Swan Pharmacy next door to the Swan Street surgery. They can consult with patients for a variety of symptoms and can dispense antibiotics which helps with the GP workload. Some patients use this facility repeatedly in view of the service they have received. NHS England are coming to visit Swan Pharmacy because they are the single highest user or provider of Pharmacy 1st in the whole of the South of England.
• Health promotion event – digital teach in
  The PPG agreed with a suggestion by Dr Kershaw at a previous meeting that it would be good to have a digital teach in for patients who want to be able to take advantage of various health apps. A decision was taken for Swan to work with local U3A (University of the Third Age) branches to help patients gain greater confidence with digital technology. These sessions would be followed by individual ‘tuition’ at Swan surgeries for patients wanting to use the NHS App. Dates to be arranged.
• NHS App and Patient Access
  There was discussion around the difference between Patient Access and the NHS App. Patient Access is produced by EMIS – the clinical system currently in use at SMG and deals with primary care data only. However, an advantage of it is that it shows graphs and trends of results. The NHS App gives the same GP data plus some details of secondary (hospital) care and appointments and is constantly being developed. ‘NHS online services’ is an alternative web-based platform for accessing the same patient clinical details.The Patient Access Login now requires an extra layer of security and this cannot be changed by SMG. However, it is possible to change the Patient Access login to use the NHS login details which avoids the complex security checkA PPG member asked that Swan clinicians take care to fill in accurate comments on the system so that patients using the NHS App have confidence in the information added.
  In response, Dr Kershaw acknowledged the point but also said that the system was not originally designed with patient viewing in mind and things such as the same report received from different sources could cause confusion. He explained that ‘DOC MAN’ was shorthand for the document management system.
• eConsult survey
  The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) had conducted review of eConsult following criticism from several PPG in the area. Dr Kershaw confirmed they had received the results. He explained that the contract for eConsult is let by the ICB and not SMG as the ICB can get a better price for Hants and the Isle of Wight.
  eConsult has been around since 2013 and has done 40 million consultations and in that time has only had 81 significant critical results which is a good record. Dr Kershaw felt that while filling in eConsult is time consuming, it can be a useful tool and that patients had to be prepared to invest time in their own health analysis. Nevertheless, telephone remains the principle means of contact for SMG patients but eConsult is useful for people at work in the day with its early and late availability.

The Swan Medical Group PPG met on 11 Sep 2024. Among the items discussed were:

• Surgery update.  The latest figures on telephone calls; call backs and appointments made were covered. Some PPG members had experienced problems with the call back system. It was agreed that any PPG members having problems would email the practice manager with details so that they can be followed up. Of concern was the rise in ‘Did not attend’ appointments which equated to 61 hours of lost clinical time. Patients missing more than one appointment are followed up. It was recognised that some missed appointments are due to confusion over the Liss and Liphook site locations.
• Health promotion events. The next events are in October and are to help patients manage digital access. They are being run at Winton House and with U3A at the Love Lane community centre. There will also be follow up one on one sessions for those who wish. The PPG hope that if successful these will be a template for further events. It was decided that the next conventional health promotion event will be in June 2025. The GPs will propose possible subjects and PPG members helping at the vaccination clinics will ask patients for any suggestions.
• Re-election of the Chair. It was agreed that the current Chair, David Snelson would be re-elected for a period of 2 years.
• Document management. The practice manager demonstrated how the Swan document management system works with most documents coming in electronically from multiple sources and then being directed to the relevant member of staff and on to the Patient’s GP for action if needed. The PPG observed that the software default notation of ‘DOCMAN (Mr) was confusing for patients.
• NHS App events list. It was noted that patients looking at events and consultations in the NHS App often see multiple administrative entries such as ‘SMS sent’. This is again an unfortunate by product of how the software is designed.
• BMA work to rule. The Swan Medical Group Partner present, Dr Cunliffe, confirmed that they would not be following the BMA work to rule recommendations.

The PPG will next meet in January 2025.

In our aim to educate patients and develop self-help the PPG arrange health and awareness events once or twice a year, and to date we have covered:

• Men’s health
• Women’s health
• Dementia
• Carers support
• Child/baby health
• Stroke awareness
• Heart health
• Diabetes
• Asthma, Eczema and Hay fever

Current Swan Medical Group PPG members (2024):

Peter Agnew (Liphook Village)
Brian Bartholomew (Swan Petersfield)
Ruth Bonner (Swan Petersfield)
Linda Collett (Liphook Village)
Frances Dowty (Liss Hillbrow Surgery)
David Ford (Swan Petersfield)
Jenny Hance (Liss Hillbrow Surgery)
Ros Humphreys (Riverside Surgery)
Ella de Jongh (Swan Petersfield)
Jenny de Jongh (Swan Petersfield)
Julia Maughan (Liss Hillbrow Surgery)
Sonia Meredith (Liphook Village)
Ray Morton (Riverside Surgery)
Mike Peters (Swan Petersfield)
David Snelson (Swan Petersfield) Chair
Ann Tremain (Liphook Village)
Andrea Venn (Swan Petersfield) Minutes secretary

Patient Reference Group

We also have a Patient Reference Group (PRG) who we contact from time to time, usually by email but we can also contact you via post if necessary.

If you would like to join our PRG please contact the surgery for more information or send us an email to: hiowicb-hsi.swanmedicalgroup@nhs.net