Health and Social Care Bill

Memorandum submitted by York LINk (HS 98)

One aspect of the proposals in the Health and Social Care Bill that York LINk discovered is missing is a statutory requirement for patient’s representatives to be a part of the GP commissioning process.

The LINk is aware that the Bill proposes that GP’s listen to patients and the public on a regular basis. However, at present in York there is only one GP practice that has a Patients Participation Group (PPG) to facilitate this. The LINk recently supported a surgery attached to the Priory Group to try to establish a PPG and although it is very early days we are hopeful that this will eventually incorporate people from the other five surgeries in the practice. We have also offered to assist all GPs in the York area in the emerging GP Consortium to establish PPGs and understand that they will receive additional funding to help with this.

The LINk also had representatives on a Patients Panel in the former York Health Group (PbC) and is aware that there are proposals to include these lay representatives in the emerging GP Consortium. Although we welcome this inclusion, our concerns are that as there is no statutory requirement to have patient representatives and their views will be sidelined in favour of other concerns. We would be grateful if you could bring this anomaly to the attention of the Minister for Health in the hopes that the final Bill can be more prescriptive regarding patients and public inclusion.

March 2011