Member of the National Association for Patient Participation

The Whickham Practice Patient Forum was established in 2009 to represent the views of patients who are users of our services.  The forum meets at 6.30 p.m. for approximately one hour on the first Wednesday of each month.  The group is chaired by a patient of the practice and the objectives which have been agreed by the group are:

• To provide a link between our patients and the practice
• To represent the interests of patients
• To help the practice meet patient needs
• To provide a forum to pool ideas for practice improvements
• To develop new services from a patient perspective and discuss proposed changes to the way the practice operates

Our patient population is higher than the national average for the number of patients over the age of 65.  We are very keen to ensure that the group is truly representative of patients who are registered with the practice and we now have a group that represents the majority of our registered patients and practice profile.

We welcome new members and we have previously displayed posters about the group not only in the surgery but also the library, the community centre and the local comprehensive school and we directly contacted patients who we felt would represent the views of the local community.  We have also advertised events in the local magazines and newsletters and have invited patients who have attended to join our group. Patients who expressed an interest in the services the practice provided during attendance at the surgery were also invited to join the Forum.  In addition we actively sought representation from younger people by visiting local schools and sent a representative to the mother and baby clinic to ask for support.  We also have information about the patient forum on our telephone system, our Facebook page and the TV display in our reception area.

If you would like to join our group please contact Julie Spence, Assistant Practice Manager.

The group would like to contact patients on occasion by email and/or text so that they can obtain the views of the widest group of patients possible. We would like to obtain your email address and mobile phone number to do this. Please complete the Patient Contact Form to provide your consent for this.