August is historically quite a quiet month, as many people take annual leave or have family commitments, however our calendars clearly didn’t get that memo and it was fantastic to see so much engagement going on!
At the start of the month we met up with Emily Brown, Dorset Council’s Community Engagement Project Officer with a focus on food security. It was a great opportunity for us to hear about her role and how she hopes it will become a key link between Dorset Council and the voluntary sector, supporting them to network, develop services locally where there is an identified need and utilise their unique local knowledge and skills to ensure that Dorset residents are supported in and by their communities.
Jim was involved with several PPGs in August. Bridges PPG heard about how people from the GP improvements programme could use data to help improve services for practice patients, group members were also encouraged to have their blood pressure checked. The Puddletown core PPG discussed how to support more people getting access to digital health services, to help with this Jim is looking into getting the public WiFi switched back on across the county. He also met with Cerne Abbas practice to discuss developing their PPG further.
Gill’s first PPG meetings of the month were in Sandford, where the group was introduced to the new advanced nurse practitioner, and Gillingham where the meeting received another excellent and comprehensive update from the practice manager and wellbeing team.
Jim and Gill were really pleased to meet up with Nick Harper, the new Allied Forces Programme Coordinator at Dorset Council. Nick is an armed forces veteran and is passionate about supporting the lives of Dorset’s Armed Forces Community across the Dorset Council area. He aims to deliver the 5-year Strategic Partnership Plan for the Dorset Armed Forces Covenant promoting the armed forces community across the Dorset Council area and raise ambitions on community strategy agendas for both armed forces residents and veterans’ communities.
The Birchwood Practice in Poole has recently appointed a new practice manager who invited Gill along to discuss ideas to relaunch and revitalise the PPG. It was a really useful meeting and Gill is excited to help support the PPG development plans!
Jim is part of a cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention delivery group in Dorset, which met in August and is focused on ensuring the right resources are in the right places at the right time to help people with CVD and to prevent people from developing the disease in the first instance. There were really positive discussions including encouraging more people to be aware of their blood pressure numbers. If you, your PPG, group or practice would like to become more involved in CVD prevention work please get in touch with Jim: james.gammans@nhsdorset.nhs.uk
Jim and Gill met with Naomi Mason, the Senior Health Programme Advisor in Public Health. Naomi is keen to explore the possibility of engaging with more young people to get their input, and we were able to put her in touch with the Purbeck Young People’s PPG to look at ways of taking this forward.
Canford Heath surgery in Poole held a meet and greet event and Gill was so pleased to see so many people coming along to hear about the work of the practice and how well it works with its thriving PPG. Next, Gill was off to Ferndown to Barcellos PPG where the meeting discussed the PPG’s plans to present and support at a local health and wellbeing event in September.
Jim went to the ‘One World’ festival held in Dorchester, which showcased food, music, dance and culture from the diverse communities living in Dorset. He bumped into several friendly faces and spoke to many stallholders including Betty from Kushti Bok, a gypsy Roma traveller support organisation, who are doing brilliant work to help people in their community.
Gill’s next PPG meeting was at Yetminster Surgery, where we said a fond farewell to the care coordinator who had been instrumental in setting up and supporting the PPG. We were really pleased to hear the surgery had appointed a new care coordinator who we will look forward to seeing at the next PPG meeting.
Jim went to the Weymouth & Portland integrated neighbourhood partnership group, which is run by the Primary Care Network (PCN). The group includes people from the PCN, GP practices, other health organisations, social care, the voluntary sector and PPGs and is a great platform for key people in the area to get updates, share information and support each other. The PPGs have a standing agenda item, which is fantastic to see the PPG voice heard at this level.
The end of August saw Gill at the next “Practice on Tour” clinic for Blandford Surgery. The practice wellbeing team are out and about in the surrounding villages doing some fantastic work in engaging with patients in rural areas. These innovative events are held on the last Tuesday of every month and are really effective in reaching patients the team may not often hear from.
Gill also went along to the Blackmore Vale PPG steering group meeting, where we heard about plans for a new online triage tool which will seamlessly integrate patient details into the practice’s patient administration system.
Outside of work, Gill and her husband celebrated their wedding anniversary and hosted a family party – luckily the weather, while not exactly warm, was at least dry! Jim and Kelly had a fantastic holiday in Paris, which included going to several paralympic events and a trip to Euro Disney!
Far from being quiet, August was a great month for public engagement and it’s clear that Dorset is really good at it! Thanks to everyone who has invited us along to their events and meetings, and we look forward to meeting even more Dorset residents as we slide into September!
