Seascale Health Centre and Bootle Surgery
Patient Participation
Report to the PPG and
results form the
General Practice
Access Survey (v3)
Released Feb 2012
www.seascalehc.co.ok
Section 1 - Initial report for the Patient Participation Group – March 2012.
Purpose
Patient participation is based on the mutual interest of, and trust between primary care staff and the patients of the practice. The
patient’s needs, wishes and aspirations should be at the heart of primary care services. This enhanced service will help to ensure that
patients are involved in the decisions about the range and quality of services provided by the practice. Patient participation is a format
that encourages people to engage with the NHS at the same time as engaging in their own health care. The group can provide practical
support for the practice and can contribute to the continuous improvement of services.
PPG and PRG what’s the difference?
The Patient Participation Group (PPG) will be a small group of active patients (possibly around 8 people), who will be supported by the
practice to advise on service provision, design and or change. They are asked to provide their views alongside those of the wider
practice population in agreeing priorities for the practice or its patients to action.
The Patient Reference Group (PRG) is a much wider sample of the practice population and they have given their consent for us to send
surveys to and provide responses. This group is expected to be at least 100 and at the time of writing, has 49 members
Communication
Much of the correspondence with both groups will be via email and the internet using the practice’s Website. However, to ensure
inclusion, paper copies of notices, surveys and reports will be available for patients who do not have access to computers. Occasional
meetings will be arranged to facilitate group discussion as agreed by the PPG in its constitution. See Appendix 1
Process
 Set up both PPG and PRG.
 Agree constitution for PPG.
 Agree priority areas to be surveyed.
 Develop survey.
 Release survey.
 Collate and analyse results.
 PPG to discuss findings, agree any action or service improvement.
 Create an action plan and a report and publish to advise all practice population.
Story so far
Seascale Health centre has always been keen to engage with its patients and the WellWellWell newsletter produced by Dr Illsley each
month is a popular way of communicating. The Newsletter promotes Health and Wellbeing and advocates self care. The practice issues
1000s of copies in paper form each month and the publication has just celebrated its 12 year anniversary. The newsletter is available for
patients to share information, just let us know what you would like to receive information about or share with others in the community.
Through this newsletter, requests for members to join the PRG and PPG were made so that all of the practice population were invited.
See Appendix 2. Posters were placed in Reception and Dispensary at both main and branch surgeries inviting patients to join the
groups. See Appendix 3
The practice had a website but in June 2011 we refreshed this and opened up more online facilities for patients to engage with us. Well
Well Well is released automatically now to patients who have requested electronic versions and over 200 patients have elected to receive
the newsletter in this format. The online facilities allow you to order repeat medication (and over 650 repeat requests come in this way
each month). You can update your clinical information like smoking, alcohol, height, weight etc. You can register with the practice,
request a telephone consultation, update your home address, mobile tel. number etc. You can send in your travel questionnaire prior to
your holiday if you need vaccinations or information. There is also information about minor illness, local carers’ information and anything
‘topical’ such as Flu clinics will be advertised here.
In Nov 2011, we opened up the option for patients to join a PRG and online forms were submitted as well as paper requests to join. We
currently have 49 members and hope to grow this group to over 100. The breakdown of the group is shown later in the statistics area of
the report. See Appendix 4. In Dec 2011 we actively sought membership amongst staff, their families and also for specific groups in the
practice (e.g. via local school and youth group, Health Visitor, at Bootle branch surgery, via Dispensary etc). In Jan 2012, all PRG
members were emailed to ask their views on which aspects of the practice should the initial survey be about. The choice for priority was:
 Access (Appointments and availability)
 General Survey or
 Patient Experience
The majority agreed to use a general survey for first time and this was released on 30 th Jan 2012. Alongside this, the PRG constitution
was developed and sent to a limited number of PPG members for comment. It’s in draft format for now until a wider group can comment
and we have agreed to ratify at a future meeting (AGM possibly held in June 2012). The first survey was released during Feb 2012 and
has just closed with 109 responses received. Surveys were left for patients to complete in both main and branch surgery, with notices
making patients aware of the groups and surveys at Reception and Dispensary. ‘Flash messages’ were also posted on the website to
gain maximum response. As new members joined the PRG, they were also sent the form electronically. In Mar 2012 PPG held its first
face to face meeting to review responses and areas for improvement and agree priority actions.
Opening times
Seascale Opening Times
Bootle Opening Times
Times
Morning
Afternoon
Monday
08:00 - 18:00
Monday
09:00 - 12:30
closed
Tuesday
08:00 - 18:00
Tuesday
09:00 - 12:30
closed
Wednesday
08:00 - 18:00
Wednesday
09:00 - 12:30
closed
Thursday
08:00 - 18:00
Thursday
09:00 - 12:30
16:00 - 18:00
Friday
08:00 - 18:00
Friday
09:00 - 12:30
closed
Weekend
closed
Weekend
closed
closed
Both Seascale Health Centre and Bootle will be closed for half a day each month for staff training. These dates are posted on the front
door and in the monthly patient newsletter ‘WellWellWell’.
Drs Rotas
Seascale and Bootle Surgery – Usual Drs Rota – from Nov 2011
(This is the standard working week outside holidays, study leave, sickness etc.)
Mon am
Mon pm
Tues am
Tues pm
Wed
Wed
Thurs
Thurs
Fri
Fri
am
pm
am
pm
am
pm
Illsley
Seascale
Seascale
Jay
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale – alt
wks
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Carhart
Bootle
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Sowton
Seascale
Normally training
Bootle
Seascale
Rudman
Seascale
Seascale – alt wks
Bootle
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
Bootle
Seascale
Taylor
Seascale
Seascale
Bootle
Seascale – alt wks
Seascale
Seascale
Seascale
How to make appointments,
Urgent cases are seen on the day. If your condition is non-urgent, you can expect to see a GP within two working days, though you
may have to wait longer if you want to see a particular GP. Please note most of our GPs work part-time so there will be days you will not
always be able to see your doctor of choice. We have a mixture of open access and advance booking. You should be able to choose a
morning or afternoon appointment whichever day of the week you ring Seascale
If you wish to see a particular GP it may be advisable to make an advance booking. Half of the appointments in each GP session can be
booked ahead. If this allocation is already taken on the day(s) you wish to come you may need to phone in on the day. Appointments can
be made from 8.00am for appointments starting at 9.00am.
Telephone consultations, access test results etc
To speak to a doctor by telephone, e.g. to obtain test results, please ring reception as normal and they will arrange a time with you for the
doctor to call you back. Many other consultations can also be carried out over the phone and we encourage patients to use this facility. It
could be advantageous for patients living in isolated areas where a visit to the practice is difficult. If more consultations are done over the
phone each doctor will be able to increase the number of patients they deal with in each session.