Patient Participation Group: Constitution

1.  Introduction

General Practices have a responsibility to involve patients in relevant issues relating to the Practice and to respond appropriately to patients’ views and experiences. Trumpington Street Medical Practice (TSMP) created the current Patient Participation Patient Participation Group (PPG) in August 2021 for this purpose.

2. Objectives

1. Be an advisory body for TSMP, champion patients’ views 
2. Work to ensure a patient friendly and inclusive service is provided
3. Promote engagement with patients and carers through publicity and events 
4. Report any concerns identified in patients’ views and experiences of the TSMP
5. Encourage and support health education and health promotion and self-management
6. Review any patient surveys, complaints and other formal channels of reporting and inspection, and contribute to action plans for improvements

The group is not a channel for complaints, for which the formal complaints procedure should be activated. 

3. Membership 

3.1 Patient membership will be open to anyone registered with the Practice.  

3.2 There will be an elected Committee of a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 patients plus Practice reps, it will meet quarterly and take responsibility for the PPG’s work and implementing the Action Plan. Patient members of the Committee do not need to represent other interest groups, but efforts will be made to ensure a spread of membership in terms of age, gender, ethnic groups, carer representation etc. 

3.3 Any registered patient may be a general member of the PPG in an unelected capacity, by requesting via the Chair or the Practice Manager to be added to the mailing list. They may attend Committee Meetings at the discretion of the Chair. A request to attend must be sent to the Chair at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. General Members must abide by the Code of Conduct, they may contribute to discussions but not vote. 

3.4 All PPG Members will be invited to nominate and vote for the 12 Committee Members and Officers. If more than 12 patients wish to join, then a vote will be taken. 

3.4 The Practice reps on the Committee may include 1 GP Partner, the Practice Manager, the PCN Social Prescribing Link Workers and any Reception staff representative/admin support where available. These reps will be nominated by the Practice Manager.

4. Meetings 

4.1 The Committee will be chaired by a Patient representative. Chair, Vice-chair and Secretary, elected by the Group. Potential patient candidates will self-nominate and provide a short statement about themselves, with voting then carried out by email. All officers will stand down every two years, when further elections will be held. The Practice Manager will set the timelines and administer this process.

4.2 The role of the Chair will be to:

• Set meeting agendas with practice staff and doctors 
• Ensure all have equal opportunity to contribute to meetings
• Ensure all agenda items are discussed in a timely manner
• Ensure all actions and steps to achieve them are agreed at the end of each meeting and are recorded
• Provide leadership and support to the group members to complete agreed actions

4 .3 The Vice-Chair will chair meetings when the Chair is unavailable. 

4.4 Committee meetings will be held at Clay Farm Surgery in Trumpington or via Zoom.

4.5 Committee Meetings will be held on a quarterly basis, unless otherwise agreed. This will usually be in October, January, April and July, unless agreed otherwise, with an AGM annually and elections usually every other year, in October. 

4.6 An annual update/training day for all PPG members may be held in December to update and discuss developments in health and social care that affect the Practice. 

4.7 All members of the Committee will be contacted a minimum of two weeks in advance of the agenda setting meeting and invited to raise items to be placed on the agenda. The Chair, Vice Chair and Practice Manager will meet to agree the agenda. Agenda and papers to be circulated preferably two and at least one week in advance.

4.8. Non-members of the PPG may be invited to meetings if they have specific expertise or knowledge to share. The attendance of non-members of the PPG must be proposed and accepted by the Committee and any conflicts of interest declared in advance. Agreement will be at a PPG Committee meeting or by email from the Chair.

4.9 Patient representatives should contact the Practice Manager with any questions or issues concerning conduct of meetings.

4.10 All members will be expected to respect rules of confidentiality and not discuss personal or sensitive information.

4.11 Agendas and minutes of meetings will be posted on the practice website and copies will be made available at the practice upon request.

5.  Code of Conduct

• No member shall disregard the rule of the Chair, wilfully obstruct business, or behave irregularly, offensively or improperly.
• Members shall respect the opinions of others and behave in an orderly manner.
• Members shall recognise that all members of the group have an equal role to play in contributing to the workings and discussions of the group.
• Committee Members shall attend meetings or send apologies and be punctual.
• Items discussed in the group which are confidential should be declared and should not be discussed by any member outside the group.
• Personal experiences may be shared where relevant and pertinent to illustrate or inform a topic under discussion but not for purposes of personal needs. Where such experiences have led to anger, distress etc. they should be discussed outside of the meeting one to one with the Practice Manager. 

6.  Quorum – Decision Making

At PPG Committee Meetings a quorum will consist of 3 registered elected patients and 1 practice representative who should be either a GP or Practice Manager. 

If a decision cannot be reached through mutual agreement or by those present and voting, then the Practice Manager or GP rep will take responsibility for finding a resolution. 

7.  Review of Constitution

The Constitution will be reviewed annually in October at the AGM.