Get Involved with your local practice
With the current changes within the National Health Service, there is a greater call for Patient Participation then ever before. A patient centred approach from design to delivery.
Coventry has a rich history of Patient and Public Involvement. Currently there are over 34 practices with Patient Panel Group and more and more practices looking to develop Patient Panel Groups and other engagement mechanisms.
Patient Panel groups provide a platform for open and honest discussion, Most people have contact with the health service through their general practice. It is, therefore a natural place to build patient and public involvement activities around GP surgeries.
Patient Panel Groups are a simple ‘grass roots’ way of affecting change and involving patients in improving the health and wellbeing of their local community.
Patient Panel Groups have an increasingly important role to play in helping to give patients a say in the way services are delivered to best meet their needs as well as the needs of the local community. Patient Panel Groups can play a wide range of roles, including: supporting PBC practice based commissioners with Commissioning decisions, helping to involve and engage minority and seldom heard communities undertaking health promotion initiatives; establishing self-help groups; communicating with the wider patient population; influencing service development; establishing better information systems; raising funds and purchasing new equipment; creating local networks; supporting carers and producing newsletters.
With the ever changing needs of our communities we need to explore new, innovative and effective mechanism for involvement, from Patient Panel Groups, interactive websites and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, to help aid health economy professional in achieving their aims.
- Commissioning
Process by which the health needs of the local population are identified. Priorities for investment are set and appropriate services are purchased and evaluated. Primary Care Trusts do not provide all of the healthcare services needed by the local population, they buy-in or commission services from other provider organisations. Typically this includes local hospitals. - GP
GP stands for General Practitioner. GPs are family doctors.