St Leonard’s Medical Practice Patients’ Group
Gordon Read, member of St Leonard’s Medical Practice Patients’ Group in Exeter, talks about the work of his group in fundraising for the practice and helping the annual winter flu jab clinic run smoothly.
Gordon Read is one of 12 people who form the PPG Steering Group at St Leonard’s Medical Practice in Exeter. The group was established in June 2006, about six months before a move to new premises. The practice's patient research representative wrote, at the request of the practice partners, to a number of patients, inviting them to become involved in a patient participation group. About a dozen regular and occasional visitors to the practice expressed their willingness to participate.
One of the first jobs undertaken by the group was to develop a constitution, to set out the aims of the group and provide a structure for their activities. The constitution also aimed to ensure they had elective authority and the necessary powers to both raise and spend money. To date, through its fundraising efforts, the group has helped towards the cost of updating the defibrillator and the ECG machine used in the practice, and has provided a small courtyard garden as well as toys for children visiting the surgery. The group is currently working towards raising money for a drinking water fountain.
Another of the PPG's real successes has been assisting the practice staff to ensure the annual flu jab clinic runs smoothly and efficiently. Around a third of the patient caseload, a large proportion of whom are pensioners, is invited to attend the clinic each year. The work of patient volunteers involves helping patients sign in and complete information updates, assisting with self administered weight and blood pressure checks, and guiding them to the respective nurse's room.
Gordon said: “I feel a personal responsibility to take an active role in the practice’s PPG. It is rewarding to feel that our work is valued by staff and patients.”
www.stleonardssurgery.co.uk