Dear Patients,
The Patient Participation Group (PPG) are patients at Warmdene surgery volunteering to represent patients' interests and meet about 5 or 6 times each year with the practice manager and on occasions one or two GPs at the surgery.
As the Chair of this group, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that the opinions of the patients are highly regarded and acted upon by the clinical staff. Your participation is highly sought and thus I am appealing to you to join us if you so wish. Currently we have some 10 members but welcome as many as we can get to ensure we get a diverse representation and opinions. It would be helpful if we could get some younger patients to join us like your sons or daughters aged between 16 and 25 for instance, although all are welcome. Sometimes, younger voices have a vastly different take on policy and procedures than the more mature patients. Sometimes their opinions are very valid. Do please let me or the surgery know if you are keen to join us.
Warmdene surgery is extremely proactive and forward thinking what with a new website being launched this week and our desire to have young people on board. All the staff at the surgery, the doctors, the nurses, receptionists and the back room administration staff are so helpful and polite that we appear to have a head start on most other surgeries in our region. I am sure you would enjoy the experience of working alongside them supporting their efforts to provide a first class service to all patients.
If you are not keen or cannot join the group, you can as a patient be so helpful in other ways. Just be
kind, be helpful and supportive and this will help the staff to cope under the pressures placed upon them, and thereby they can provide you with the front line GP-based health service that you expect to receive. Please understand that the surgery telephone lines are exceptionally busy and sometimes it is difficult to get through. The lines are generally busier than usual throughout the day time hours. The surgery apologises for any inconvenience to patients and has increased staffing to process calls, but unfortunately, it is difficult to ever match the increasing demands.
The doctors and staff all need job satisfaction to help them survive in these difficult times. They, like you and I, have families and similar problems we experience in our private lives, so to help them get job satisfaction and give each of us the best possible care and attention you can help by bringing kind words, understanding, and patience when contacting the surgery, booking or attending appointments. Thank you so much for your participation in our efforts to demonstrate to our medical staff that we care about them also!
Michael Whitty
Chairman of Warmdene Patient Participation Group