Leeds Citywide Patient Participation Group Event

Emily Boldison, our Engagement Facilitator, reflects on the second Leeds Citywide Patient Participation Group (PPG) Event.

Last week, myself and a mix of patients, NHS professionals and GP practice staff spent the day at the Headingley Experience for the second Annual Leeds Citywide PPG Event organised by the NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Adam Stewart, NHS Leeds CCG Engagement Officer, kicked off the day by giving a recap of all the work that has gone on since the first annual meeting. Adam listed one of the successes as being the creation of the Leeds PPG Network. This Network has since met a number of times and helped shape the agenda for this year’s event. Kirsty Turner and Helen Wilkinson from NHS Leeds CCG spoke next about the changing face of primary care. To me one phrase rang particularly true:

“Really positive work and energy comes from PPGs.”

As the facilitator of the Patient-Public Group for BCI UK, I believe this is absolutely the case. It was also great to hear that Leeds is way ahead of other cities with its support of PPGs.

After lunch we had the option of attending one of five workshops. I attended the Communication one in which we looked at: the barriers to communicating; what good communication could look like, and how we can communicate effectively. One of the key opportunities that was repeated throughout was social media. In particular, how social media can be used to communicate with harder-to-reach audiences. This is something we have been working on at BCI UK with our new Twitter account.

In conclusion, it was great to spend a day celebrating the work of PPGs in Leeds. It was also valuable to discuss how PPGs can have even more impact. The role of PPGs in helping healthcare and research needs to be recognised. I very much agree with a comment from Chris Bridle, Engagement Manager for NHS Leeds CCG:

“The role of a PPG is to champion the voice of the wider public." 

Image credit: These images are some of the engaging artworks created by Tom Bailey of Arts and Minds during the day.