Residents in Shepton Mallet and the surrounding villages are being urged to get involved in shaping the delivery of services from their GP practice.

As the demands on GP practices grow with more care to be delivered in the community, it is even more important that patients have the opportunity to continue to work with their practice to find ways to continuously develop and improve services.

Each of our the GP practices (Grove House in Shepton, Oakhill, and Park Medical Centre in Shepton plus Evercreech) has a Patient Participation Group (PPG) made up of patients, the practice manager and GPs.

They work to help identify potential areas of improvement together with supporting the practice to share with patients the number of different ways to access services.

They have been in existence for more than eight years and their aims include:

Assisting the practice to communicate information effectively to patients and help the practice understand the patients' viewpoint and vice versa.

Promoting good health by supporting health promotion activities and preventative information within the practice.

Providing feedback and interpretation from patients and to challenge the practice constructively when necessary including identifying gaps or problems in services provided.

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Contributing to appropriate practice decision-making and to be consulted on relevant service development and provision.

Acting as a representative group that can be called upon to influence the local provision of Health and Social Care.

Involving a wider group of patients, that is representative of the practice population.

To build on the success of providing support to the practice, each of the PPGs are now seeking additional patients who would like to join us to help shape the future of local services. If you are interested, let your practice know.

For Grove House, contact Rachel Witcombe on [email protected] or leave your details at the surgery.

For Oakhill, contact Thelma Gotsell on [email protected] or leave your details at the surgery.

For Park Medical Practice and Evercreech, email Andy Dorgan – practice manager on [email protected] or Peter Hillman – chair PPG on [email protected] or by leaving a message for them at reception.