Patient Participation Group Network

The Gloucestershire Patient Participation Group Network met on Thursday 15 January, online. Discussions included:

• Training, recruiting and retaining staff in GP services; and alternatives to the ‘partnership model’ for GP services mentioned in the NHS 10 Year Plan introduced by Dr Laura Halden, Clinical Chair, Gloucestershire Primary Care Training Hub. A link to her presentation is here: Gloucestershire Primary Care Training Hub PPG
• Action in Gloucestershire on waiting lists, introduced by Dr Christian Hamilton, Associate Director of Commissioning for Elective Care, NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board. A link to his presentation is here: Elective Waiting Lists Jan 2026 PPG
• Update on ICB Changes, introduced by Caroline Smith, Senior Manager in Engagement & Inclusion at NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board. A link to her presentation is here: PPG Organisational update Jan 2026

Members also shared their experiences of making links with particular communities in their area, to understand their experiences of using their surgery; about waiting lists for young people in need of mental health support; activities to support people to download and use the NHS App; and about the use of AI in GP surgeries.

The Gloucestershire Patient Participation Group Network met on Monday 10 November, online. The discussions included

• NHS Gloucestershire 5-year Strategy, introduced by Sarah Truelove, Chief Executive (transitioning) NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board. A link to her presentation is here: Gloucestershire 5 year strategy
• GP Premises development and delivery plan introduced by Andrew Hughes, Associate Director of Major Projects, NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board. A link to his presentation is here: NHS Gloucestershire Primary Care Premises
• Medicines Optimisation programme introduced by Adele Jones, Chief Pharmacist for Primary Care & Associate Director, NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board. A link to her presentation is here: Medicines Optimisation

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 19 September, online. The discussions included

• Gloucestershire Digital Infrastructure and Inclusion strategy introduced by Chris Smart, Principal Digital Inclusion Officer and Mark Glover, Principal Digital Infrastructure Officer, Gloucestershire County Council. A link to their presentation is here: Digital Strategy - Overview
• NHS Digital Update, introduced by Peter Wathen, Head of Digital Transformation, Gloucestershire Integrated Care System along with Sam Howe and Kevin Gannaway-Pitts from the Integrated Care Board Digital team. A link to their presentation is here: NHS App presentation

• Your PPG - PPG Tips which included discussions about GP premises, and PPGs using social media and blogs

• “Patient stories” - a request for experiences affected by communication between professionals or services, introduced by Ella Mann, Business Analyst, NHS Gloucestershire. A link to her presentation is here: Patient stories - communication between NHS staff

• Update on future NHS Gloucestershire ICB changes introduced by Tracey Cox, Director of People, Culture & Engagement, NHS Gloucestershire. A link to her presentation is here: NHS Reset briefing September 2025
  
  
  
  
  
  

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 21 July, online and in person at Shire Hall in Gloucester. The discussions included

• National GP Patient Survey – Gloucestershire GP practice results introduced by Becky Parish, Associate Director, Engagement and Experience. NHS Gloucestershire. A link to the Patient Survey results is here: GP Patient Survey

• NHS 10 Year Plan introduced by Becky Parish. You can read more about the government's 10 Year Plan here: Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England

• Healthwatch Gloucestershire Annual Report and proposed changes to the Healthwatch network, introduced by Lucy White, Healthwatch Gloucestershire Manager. A link to the Annual Report is here: Healthwatch Gloucestershire Annual Report 24/25

• Your PPG Network - PPG Tips

• Update on future NHS Gloucestershire ICB changes introduced by Tracey Cox, Director of People, Culture & Engagement, NHS Gloucestershire. A link to the presentation is here: NHS reset briefing PPG Network 21 July
• Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust Strategy introduced by Julie Mackie, Head of Partnerships, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. A link to information is here: GHC strategy refresh

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 30 May, online. This was a special, 1-hour meeting arranged to provide information about the new General Medical Services contract. Information was also shared about the government announcement on changes to Integrated Care Boards.

The presentations shared at the meeting are available via the following links:

• General Medical Services contract presentation
• Changes to NHS Integrated Care Boards

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 7 April, online and in person at Shire Hall in Gloucester. The discussions included

• Supervised toothbrushing in Gloucestershire introduced by Callum Gutteridge, Public Health Manager. A link to the presentation is here: Supervised toothbrushing
• Fundraising for Gloucestershire Hospitals Oncology Big Space introduced by Arlene McGlynn from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. A link to the presentation is here: Gloucestershire Hospitals Oncology Big Space
• News of a new support group for people in Gloucestershire living with a lung condition - more information is available here: Gloucestershire A+LUK support group
• managing confidentiality in patient participation groups
• different patient participation group structures and their pros and cons

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 7 February, online. The discussions included

• Support for Carers at Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals

  introduced by Rebecca Fell, Patient and Carer Experience Improvement Manager, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. A link to her presentation is here: Support for Carers

• the NHS 10-Year Plan for Health, with an update from Becky Parish on gathering local ideas for the 10-Year Plan, and updates from Chris Smith (Phoenix PPG) and Jonathan (Cam and Uley PPG) on the Primary Care Strategy 10-Year Plan workshop. Links to their presentations are here: NHS 10 Year Plan and Workshop feedback

• other discussions included ways for PPG members to link up with other PPGs in their local area, and increasing the diversity of voices represented in the PPG.
  
  
  
  

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 13 December, online.

The discussions included

• an update on digital transformation and the NHS App introduced by Peter Wathen, Head of Digital Transformation, Gloucestershire Integrated Care System and Kevin Gannaway-Pitts, Senior Programme Manager Digital Primary Care, NHS Gloucestershire. Links to their presentations are here: NHS App presentation and Primary care digital update
• Landline switchover to Digital Voice: continuity for people using Telecare introduced by Rebecca Parra, Senior Commissioning Manager, Technology Enabled Care, Gloucestershire County Council / NHS Gloucestershire and Chris Smart, Principal Digital Inclusion Officer at Gloucestershire County Council. A link to the presentation is here: Digital switchover
• Gloucestershire Talking Newspapers introduced by June Little, Chair of Trustees for The Cotswold Listener
• Having your say in the NHS 10-Year Plan introduced by Becky Parish, Associate Director, Engagement and Experience, NHS Gloucestershire. A link to the NHS website is here: Change NHS

The Patient Participation Group Network met together on 25 October. PPG members from across the county joined online.

The discussions included

• The NHS Federated Data Platform, introduced by Claire Clements, Rebecca Leahy and Nirav Patel from NHS England. A link to the presentation is here: Intro to the NHS Federated Data Platform
• Primary Care update, including management of collective action, introduced by Jo White, Deputy Director of Primary Care & Place, NHS Gloucestershire
• Volunteering in General Practice, introduced by Hannah Gorf, Senior Programme Manager, Healthy Communities and Individuals at NHS Gloucestershire A link to the presentation is here: Volunteering presentation
• Recruiting new members for your PPG, introduced by Becky Parish, Associate Director Engagement and Experience and Sophie Ayre, Engagement Manager, NHS Gloucestershire. A link to the template registration form discussed is here: Template 'registration of interest' form

The GP Patient Survey is sent out to over two million people registered with GP practices in England. The results show how people feel about their GP practice. People also provide feedback about NHS dentists and community pharmacists using the survey. The answers received help the NHS to improve local health services for people like you and your family.

This is the eighteenth year that the survey has been carried out in England.

Why the survey matters

• It’s good for patients: Patients have the chance to share their experience of their GP practice
• It’s good for practices: GP practices can use the results to improve patient experience
• It’s reliable: Sound data on every GP practice in the country is collected

2024 results were published on 11 July 2024. You can access the results here.

Frequently asked questions GP Patient Survey – FAQ (gp-patient.co.uk)