Patient Participation Group

Next PPG Meeting - Wednesday 15th January 2025 at 9:30am.

Our Patient Participation Group and the people involved are a group of patients registered with us at Long Bennington Medical Centre, they have no medical training but have an interest in the services provided. They work in partnership with us to ensure that there is a good relationship between patients, GP's and other professional staff. The aim of the PPG is to represent patients’ views, support diversity and to work in partnership with the us to improve common understanding; contribute to improvements of services and quality of care and work towards better and improved communications. For more information please click here PPG Information Leaflet..

Our PPG group is currently made up of 10 volunteer patients. Also present at the meetings is the GP Compliance & Contracts Officer and the Care Co-ordinator. The aim is also for the Practice Manager or one of the GP partners to join the meetings where possible and when time permits. We currently meet monthly. Meetings are planned to last around 90 minutes and are currently held on a Wednesday morning at the surgery.

We are currently looking for new members to join us to ensure we reflect the locality we represent and would particularly welcome volunteers from younger age groups and various ethnic groups. Therefore anyone wishing to be involved in the PPG or who wants to know more should contact the PPG by email at SWLCCG.c83067@nhs.net.

Message from our PPG Chair:

As the recently elected chair of the reformed PPG group I would like to welcome you to the Patient Participation Group section of the Long Bennington Medical Centre website.

The PPG was initially formed in 2015 to provide a link between the patients and the GP practice staff of LBMC, however due to the impact of COVID, meetings have not taken place recently and a new committee was established in February.

Here at our surgery we are constantly striving to provide patients with the highest standard of healthcare and exploring ways to improve and adapt to the needs of our patients. The PPG is there to represent the patients’ voice.

Broadly, the main aims of our PPG are:

To assist the practice in communicating news and information to patients and help to improve communication between patients and practice staff.
To provide feedback on patient’s needs, concerns and interests.
To assist and support the practice in setting up voluntary groups/ and or support within the community.
To be champions for and represent the needs of patients within the practice and give patients a voice in the organisation of their care.

However we are not there to provide any medical advice to other patients, or deal with personal or medical issues or any individual complaints.

Best wishes

Lisa Smith

Chair of PPG

We plan to meet on the following dates in 2025:

15^th January 2025
19^th February 2025
6th March 2025 online AGM evening time TBA
19^th March 2025
16^th April 2025
21^st May 2025
18^th June 2025
16^th July 2025
17^th September 2025
15^th October 2025
19^th November 2025

Minutes from the PPG meetings are available to read below.

If you would like to apply to join the Long Bennington patient group you can download the sign up form as a pdf document, print it out, complete it and return it to us and we will notify the PPG of your interest.

Signing up for our Patient Participation Group

We will be in touch shortly after we receive your form. Please note that no medical information or questions will be responded to.

The Aims of the Patient Participation Group

To offer opinions in a constructive manner and to put forward ideas on behalf of other patients.
To improve the provision of health care.
To improve communication between surgery, patients and the wider community about matters concerning the surgery and health in general.
To provide assistance in development of new services.
To encourage a spirit of self help and support amongst patients to improve their health and social care.

PPG Newsletters

The PPG newsletters are available to read here:

LBMC Newsletter - December 2019

Patient Focus Issue 1 Summer 2023

Patient Focus Issue 2 Autumn 2024

For the latest National Association for Patient Participation (N.A.P.P.) eBulletins please click HERE

The PPG AGM in 2024 was held on 14th March 2024. The mintues are available:

PPG AGM Minutes 09.03.23.pdf

PPG AGM Minutes 14.03.2024

Our next PPG AGM will be held on 6th March 2025. Please let our reception team know if you would like to join the meeting.

Wellbeing Walks

Our next wellbeing walk is 15th January 2025 – 10:45am from Long Bennington Medical Centre – Please arrive 10 minutes before for registration.

Wellbeing Walks are short walks, run by friendly, specially trained volunteer walk leaders, who are on hand to provide encouragement and support. All walks are free of charge and are open to everyone – you don’t need to preregister, just come along, and join us. The routes start and finish at Long Bennington Medical Centre, and last between 30 and 90 minutes. Don’t worry about your fitness level - walks are over easy terrain and at a steady pace to suit everyone.

The walks can really help to boost your fitness and wellbeing. Almost all of us can manage a stroll, but our walks make it easier to start walking and stay active. It’s almost impossible not to feel good when walking outdoors – it’s a natural mood-booster, and you’ll certainly never be short of good company!

For more information, contact our reception team.