Patient Participation Group

You are already a member of Minchinhampton Patient Participation Group (PPG) if you are registered as a patient at Minchinhampton Surgery.

The PPG committee is a patient group elected by the annual general meeting (AGM), to which all Minchinhampton Surgery patients are invited.

PPG members do whatever we can to promote excellence in our surgery, and we hope you join in. We are especially looking forward to a new surgery / health centre building for Minchinhampton, and we need your help in the consultation process.

• Promote positive relations between patients and the practice.
• Encourage health promotion and personal responsibility.
• Provide a patient voice when new services are being planned or when services might be withdrawn.
• Encourage and help implement any patient-led research projects.
• Provide patient feedback to the surgery, including compliments, comments, and concerns.
• Assist the surgery and its patients by providing a volunteer transport service for patients needing to attend the surgery and other local medical facilities or hospitals.

• All committee meetings are currently held at The Cotswold Club in Minchinhampton High Street at 7pm on a Wednesday, as announced.
• All Minchinhampton patients are welcome at PPG meetings.
• Please email the PPG secretary Ian McPherson (iandsmcp@gmail.com) in advance if you wish to attend and/or receive a copy of the agenda or minutes.
• The PPG held their last AGM on Wednesday 27 September 2023 at 7pm in the Porch Room at Minchinhampton Parish Church (Holy Trinity). The speaker was David Rawlings, Stroud district council development officer for children and young people’s work. Light refreshments were available.

• Chair: Eve Jackman
• Vice chair: Gervase Hamilton
• Treasurer: Brian Whitaker
• Transport officer: Gerald Ford
• Secretary: Ian McPherson
• Immediate past chair: Graham Spencer

• Kerry Thompson (practice manager, Minchinhampton Surgery)
• Dr Freddie Walker (GP partner, Minchinhampton Surgery)

The Minchinhampton PPG offers friendly and cheap patient transport to this surgery, local hospitals, dentists, physiotherapists, and opticians. This is for Minchinhampton Surgery patients who might otherwise find it difficult to attend their health appointments.

Please call the PPG main line on 01453 887314 to arrange transport.

• Leave a voicemail with your full name, telephone number, and message.
• You should receive a reply from a transport coordinator within 24 hours – they will ask you to provide your home address, the date/time/location of your medical appointment, and if you have any additional requirements (e.g. mobility issues).
• The transport coordinator will find a suitable driver (all volunteer drivers will have undergone a standard DBS check) who will phone you directly to make suitable travel arrangements.
• At the end of your drive, the patient will pay a non-profit non-taxable mileage allowance (currently 60p per mile) to the driver. This cost is calculated by the PPG and explained to the driver and patient in advance. The patient must pay for any Hospital or Medical Facility parking fees unless they have a disabled blue badge.

For other information about booking options for transport to Hospitals or getting help with travel costs, please visit www.nhsglos.nhs.uk.

New drivers who can help the scheme are always welcome and very much needed. If you would like to volunteer, please talk to one of our organisers by calling 01453 887314 or emailing iandsmcp@gmail.com.

The PPG committee has contributed to successive ratings of the practice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as “overall outstanding” (last published 2018). Please support the PPG and help the practice to continue to be rated outstanding.

• February 2024 (PDF)
• November 2023 (PDF)
• September 2023 (AGM) (PDF)
• June 2023 (PDF)
• April 2023 (PDF)
• March 2023 (PDF)
• February 2023 (PDF)
• September 2022 (AGM) (PDF)