Friends of Ivy Grove Surgery

This article was originally published in the June 2009 edition of Ivy Grove News.

Jean Pass, chair of Friends of Ivy Grove Surgery, writes about the patient participation group.

Your Patient Group

Friends of Ivy Grove Surgery (FIGS) is your patient group – it bridges the gap between the surgery and the patient. Since the group first started, we have tried very hard to get patients to join the group; we even had a younger person translate one of our leaflets into 'text speech' so that perhaps younger people would stop and read it. We do need younger people as well as parents of young families to join us, so that we have a representative view of all the patients at the surgery.

The Surgery Does Listen

When we moved to Ripley, I was advised to join Ivy Grove by my previous doctor, as I have an ongoing medical condition which needs regular monitoring. This I have received from both my doctor and the specialist nurse. I am sure that most patients cannot find fault with the clinicians, it's just getting an appointment that causes the problem, or even talking to a doctor.

We all assume that nobody listens, but they do. Since I joined the surgery, the 0845 number has been changed to a local number; we can now check-in electronically which means we no longer have to queue at the reception desk – we can just check-in and sit down, which is very good if you are not feeling well; there is also a box just inside the door for our repeat prescriptions, so this leaves the staff to deal with patient queries.

Make a Difference

As well as the patients group, the practice carries out a patient survey every year, and this helps to formulate future policy. If you need to speak to a doctor there will be one available every morning for us to talk to. The sit and wait surgery was brought in to try and meet the need for same day appointments and although it has now finished (see front page for details), the patient group and the information you feed back to the surgery does make a difference.

News and Information

There is a suggestion box under the FIGS noticeboard, in which you can put your suggestions in at any time and the minutes of the last patients meeting are always on the board.

Also the patients group keeps in touch with what is happening at the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and other patients groups around the country.

Next meeting

Hopefully we shall see more of you at our next patient meeting. At the moment we meet bi-monthly on the first Tuesday of the month.