You’ll read more about Gill and Rylan later! June is traditionally a busy month for patient engagement as the weather improves and more initiatives are being planned.
PPGs in Weymouth & Portland have been working on initiatives to support people’s wellbeing including health talks and healthy eating sessions. Jim and PPG members were introduced to Abby, a new cardio-vascular nurse for the primary care network (PCN) who is going to be leading PPG health talks on high blood pressure. Jim also went to a meeting at Weymouth college, organised by John from Preston Road PPG. John is working on a PCN-wide project to encourage healthier eating for people, linking this to the PPG health talks. The catering course tutors are now looking to build an initiative into their course syllabus in the next academic year involving the PPGs.
Gill went to more excellent PPG meetings all across the county, this time in Canford Heath, Broadstone and Yetminster. It was great to see how much engagement is going on with lots of excellent patient feedback provided, which will be incredibly useful going forward.
Jim and Gill hosted the regular meeting of PPG leads from Christchurch, Verwood, Ferndown and Poole, and Gill hosted PPG leads meetings from Purbeck and the three PCNs in North Dorset. As we mentioned in previous blogs, these are really helpful meetings where PPG representatives can meet others either from their own or other PCN areas, and share their knowledge and experiences.
The Prince of Wales PPG in Dorchester held their first public talk on how people can access digital health technology to review their patent record, order repeat prescriptions and view test results. There were 30 people who came to the presentation led by PPG member and digital champion Mike Watson and with the popularity of the first presentation more are being planned. Mike is keen to share his presentation to other areas of the county, if you feel your PPG, community group or organisation would benefit from Mike’s talk please get in touch with Jim: james.gammans@nhsdorset.nhs.uk
During Carers Week Gill was invited along to carers events in Ferndown and Wareham, where it was fantastic to see carers being looked after and their needs considered so well. At the Wareham event we were treated to lots of amazing cakes, a raffle and a performance from a local band.
Gill also went along to the men’s health event hosted by Blandford practice on 25 June, which was attended by nearly 600 people! There was a wealth of information on offer from local organisations and feedback from attendees was so positive that the practice is now planning a repeat event later in the year.
Gill and Jim were invited by colleagues at Dorset County Hospital to have a tour of the outpatient assessment centre in Dorchester. The centre is at the former Dorset council offices next to Dorchester library and has been designed specifically for outpatient appointments and some minor procedures. They were given a tour by one of the fantastic volunteers and were impressed with the facilities
The Action for Health & Care in Purbeck invited Gill along to their June meeting. This group is made up of PPG representatives, local councillors and representatives from local health organisations. It’s an incredibly important group as so many different subjects are discussed, all of which affect the residents of Purbeck.
Jim met with Siobhain and Shannon, the new long term condition coordinators for mid-Dorset PCN. These are new roles created to help ensure people with chronic medical conditions are supported in the right way to manage their conditions, keeping people healthier for longer. He also met with Sarah and Angharad from Jurassic (West Dorset) PCN to discuss how younger people could get more involved with local NHS services, including giving feedback to PPGs.
Gill was delighted to be invited to speak to the Gillingham Health Champions at their June meeting, where she talked about NHS Dorset’s commitment to working with local people and communities, and involving them in the design and development of local services. She also explained the importance and value of PPGs and how their feedback is vital in informing future local services.
Jim went to several PPG meetings in June including Puddletown where he heard PPG members had success in distributing their patient questionnaire and will be supporting their community wellbeing event in July (read more about their questionnaire project). Prince of Wales PPG heard about volunteering opportunities at Dorset County Hospital, Cross Road PPG elected a new deputy chair and are looking to start fundraising activities to support the practice.
Jim went to a drop-in wellbeing event in Bridport this month where he met the Citizens Advice energy team – their team offers advice and help for people regarding their gas and electricity bills and metering. They will be shortly launching an energy bus, which will offer their energy advice in urban and rural communities in the Dorset County area. Jim and Gill will be working with them to help raise their profile in local areas.
Outside of work Jim and Kelly went to a friend’s wedding, Kelly’s aunt and uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary party and have spent time watching the men’s Euros championship. They also managed to get a quick sea swim in Weymouth bay.
Gill enjoyed another birthday treat (these must run out soon surely?) when her children bought her tickets to see the band Girls Aloud at the O2 in London. She was accompanied by her two daughters Kim and Charlotte and by all accounts the concert was excellent.
When the concert ended the three of them joined the throng of people queuing to leave the venue, when suddenly Gill glanced behind her and was shocked and surprised to see the television and radio presenter Rylan Clark. Gill (being Gill) wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass her by and quickly asked him for a photo. Before Gill could invite him to join his local PPG, he was whisked away through a side door and off to the after-show party. Sadly, he forgot to invite Gill along!
Well! After such a busy month we are really looking forward to more engagement opportunities in July, so please do continue to let us know if you know of anything we can support with. Feedback is so incredibly important and is so vital in informing future ICB services.
