Almost half of GP practices in the Rochdale borough do not have an active patient participation group

28% of GP practices have an active patient participation group

Almost half of GP practices in the Rochdale borough do not have an active patient participation group, according to new findings from Healthwatch Rochdale.

A patient participation group is a group of patients, carers and GP practice staff who meet to discuss practice issues and patient experience to help improve the service.

Since April 2015, it has been a contractual requirement of NHS England for all GP practices to have a patient participation group and to make reasonable efforts for this to be representative of the practice population.

The work was carried out after Healthwatch Rochdale received feedback from Rochdale borough residents that their GP practice did not have an active patient participation group. Healthwatch Rochdale’s Advisory Group then made the decision to investigate which GP practices in the Rochdale borough had an active patient participation group.

The findings show that:

• 28% of GP practices have an active patient participation group
• 28% said they were due to restart their patient participation group
• 44% do not have an active patient participation group

Whilst undertaking the work Healthwatch Rochdale also identified the following issues:

• Difficulty getting through on the phone
• Lack of staff awareness as to what a patient participation group was
• Limited patient participation group information on GP websites

Healthwatch Rochdale have made six recommendations to Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care and a formal response has been received.

Kate Jones, Healthwatch Rochdale Chief Executive Officer, said: “Patient participation groups give patients the opportunity to meet with staff to discuss practice issues and use patient experience to improve service.

“With the changes that are currently taking place within Primary Care we recognise that patient participation group are one of the best ways to get people involved and have a say when decisions are being made that affect their healthcare.

“We welcome the response we have received from our findings and look forward to seeing all patient participation groups reinstated by April 2023.”

You can read the full report and response here.