Cycle Marathon Ends in Wincanton

Graham Box, Chief Executive of the National Society for Patient Participation who is about to end his term in office, decided to draw attention to the growth of Patient Participation Groups across the country by visiting them all, cycling from branch to branch, starting at Stockton on Tees and ending in Wincanton.

Here he was met by enthusiastic members of our Patient Participation Group together with medical members of the practice team. He congratulated the Wincanton PPG for having got off to such a good start here.

Patient Participation Groups are a new initiative in Somerset but as Graham Box explained, they are well established and flourishing in many parts of the country where they act as an effective link between medical staff and patients. While fund raising for needed kit can be accomplished, their real purpose is far wider, being there to facilitate feedback about services and suggesting ways in which things could be improved, or helping communicate a better understanding of local health issues.

The photos show Graham's arrival in Wincanton being celebrated with fizzy liquid and him telling the group about what he had found about PPG groups as he cycled across the country.

John Baxter

Comments

graham
Posts: 1

Patient participation groups
Reply #1 on : Tue June 22, 2010, 07:34:01

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Thank you for your super article and photos covering my cycle ride. I had a lovely welcome in Wincanton - the perfect end to a very enjoyable week. My journey saw me visit ten areas but there are now more than 3000 Patient Participation Groups up and down the country. Some of the groups in Somerset are well-established but it has been great to see a real growth in their numbers in the past couple of years. The Wincanton PPG shows just how valuable these Groups can be.

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