Blog

Working with people and communities to improve general practice in primary care

In my many interactions with primary care, both personally and professionally, I know how much GPs and their teams place on the importance of connecting with the people that they serve.

Each GP practice is contractually required to have a formal Patient Participation Group (PPGs) to gain feedback and insight on what their population wants. Turning this requirement into something practical that delivers the best for both the practice and their patients can be more of a challenge – whether this is because of difficulties around relationship management or working out how to action insights.

A new online course, created by colleagues in the People and Communities team at NHS England and hosted on the FutureLearn platform, explores and celebrates some of the innovative ways that GP practices can do this.

The course, developed in partnership with GPs, patient participation group members and the wider public, is intended to help practice staff develop and explore the ways they can be more connected to the wider community – as with Dr Cait Taylor and Central Liverpool primary care network (PCN), who set up a wide range of community-based listening events and have taken a range of actions based on insights gathered.

It’s based on the principles of the Working in partnership with people and communities: Statutory guidance and helps to address the need for more NHS action on prevention and health inequalities as set out in the Long Term Plan.

The course has been intentionally designed so that staff, patients and members of the public can learn and work together. Using FutureLearn makes the experience social, so that learners can read and respond to comments written by others at every step. We like this approach as it makes the learning more democratic, so that we gain the insight and experience of everyone undertaking the course.

Thanks to the partnership between the NHS and FutureLearn, the course is open to everyone. Members of the public have two weeks to access the course for free. Members of PPGs, staff working in the NHS, social care, or an organisation that provides NHS commissioned services can upgrade to receive free ongoing access and a certificate on completion. Find out more about the eligibility criteria and how to register for free access.

For those colleagues working in primary care, particularly in GP practices, and members of PPGs, I’d encourage you to find out more about the training and join the course by visiting the FutureLearn website.

Dr Neil Churchill

Neil is Director for People and Communities at NHS England, having joined the NHS after a 25-year career in the voluntary sector. His work includes understanding people’s experiences of the NHS, involving people and communities in decision-making and leading change to improve the quality and equality of care. He has a particular focus on strengthening partnerships with unpaid carers, volunteers and the voluntary sector.

Neil has previously been a non-executive director for the NHS in the South of England, is a member of the Strategy Board for the Beryl Institute and Chair of Care for the Carers in East Sussex. He is himself an unpaid carer. Neil tweets as @neilgchurchill