Patient Participation Group (PPG)

About the Patient Participation Group

Patients are occasionally contacted by email and invited to take part in various activities e.g. Patient Surveys. If you would like to sign up, you can either complete our online registration form, or you can fill in a request form available from the front desk in Reception.

Become a PPG member

Whilst feedback from all surveys including the National Surveys, has always been very positive, we do not take our patient’s good wishes and support lightly. We are very keen to solicit feedback from our patients in as many forms as we can. A phone call or a word at the front desk is just as welcome!

We also hold regular Patient Participation Group (PPG) meetings to which all patients are invited.

If you would like to attend, please let reception know or just come along on the night. Everyone is welcome.

Latest PPG Minutes: Tuesday 14th October 2025 at 6.30pm

Attendees

• Dr Helen Clarke, GP Partner
• Liz Pope, Practice Manager
• Andrea Allan Assistant Practice Manager
• Jo Booth, Reception Manager
• 16 x patients attended

Guest speakers

• Simon Shaw - HealthWatch

1. Welcome and introductions 

Liz Pope thanked everyone for coming, it was lovely to see some new and familiar faces, and for the good turn out this time. 

Apologies from Dr Mark Galliver, the GP Partner who usually attends but thanks to Dr Helen Clarke for taking his place.

2. Staff update 

Following on from our last meeting, Dr Siva Pirathapan has now left her salaried position as GP due to personal reasons. She had taken over Dr Maloney’s patient list following her retirement in April. We are pleased report that Dr Tasneem Sewilam, who is a newly qualified GP, has joined us and she has over the patients who were registered with Dr Pirathapan. Patients should have received a text message to notify them of the change. 

We also have a new salaried GP starting next week, Dr Fariha Miah. She will be working 6 sessions, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday’s. 

Our lead nurse, Hollie, is going on maternity leave in February 2026, and we have recruited a maternity cover Nurse, Henley Sargeant who will start w/c 24th November. Henely is an experienced nurse but is new to practice nursing. She will work closely with Hollie prior to her starting her maternity leave.

Hayley is currently on maternity leave and is due back in February 2026. 

Many of you may know Alison, who was our Reception Manager for many years but reduced her hours and stepped down into a receptionist role. She has taken the decision to retire after 25 years at the practice and her last working day will be Wednesday 15th October 2025. She has been a great asset to the surgery and will be missed by staff and patients. We wish her a long and happy retirement.

3. Covid and flu update

The eligibility for Covid vaccines has changed this year. Patients aged 75 years and over (or 74 turning 75 before 31st January 2026) are eligible. Patients aged 6 months to 74 years who are immunosuppressed are also eligible. Frontline healthcare staff are not eligible. 

The new criteria has confused and disappointed some patients. Covid is currently circulating, and we encourage all who are eligible to take up the vaccine. 

Our flu and covid clinics are in full swing and we have received many compliments about how well they are organised. 

4. Premises update

The planning permission was approved in principle in January 2025 subject to drainage issues. Greenham Trust have submitted further revisions to the drainage solution which have been rejected by West Berkshire Planning. This is very frustrating and causing significant delay in us being able to submit our Business Case to the ICB for funding of the project. 

Once the Business Case has been submitted to the ICB, it is predicted to take up to 6 months to process and if agreed, the construction of the new surgery could take another 2 years to build.

5. Patient call board

GDPR requires us to make patients aware that the GP call board in the waiting area has the option, if needed, for those patients not wishing their name to be visible for all to see, to be called into the GP room via a ‘silent call in’ option instead of on the board. Patients should let our reception team know on arrival if they wish to be called this way. 

6. Online access 

As of the 1st October, the GP contract requires the practice to be open for online access for routine enquiries between 8am to 6:30pm. Eastfield House has already been open from 7:30am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday for patients to access this service since 25th October 2023. 

The PPG voted that they would prefer to continue to access Anima at 7.30 am. Liz and the Partners are meeting with the ICB tomorrow to request that opening hours continue to be from 7.30am to 6pm. 

7. Healthwatch – Simon Shaw PPG information update

Simon updated the role of Healthwatch and the fact that Healthwatch would be abolished at some point, but they currently have workplans up until 2027. 

Simon updated us on projects they are working on in West Berkshire to educate and engage 14 to 24 year olds who have limited knowledge on their health rights and how to make GP appointments and use the NHS app. This would in turn reduce unnecessary contact to the surgery reception on the phone and with walk ins.

PPG members also suggested that the same exists for other age groups who find online access, NHS apps and Anima difficult to navigate. Jo Booth, the receptionist Manager, cleared up any concerns whereby any patient unable to navigate could find out how to at Reception, or Reception can facilitate completing a proxy Anima request for them or a ‘how to’ guide is available at reception.

8. Update from patient panel

A PPG member attends the Patient Panel meetings. There is much discussion about what is happening in the wider area but no confirmed plans. 

The AGM is 20th November at Shaw House from 3pm to 5pm.

Mortimer surgery are supporting a Public Meeting on 15th October in St Johns Hall on 'From Hurting to Healing - A New Way to Understand Pain' will be presented by Professor Deepak Ravindran, one of the UK's leading experts in pain and pain management. Reserve your place by email to ppgmortimersurgery@gmail.com or phone 0118 933 2436

9. Patient Questions & Suggestions

Question 1. 

It was brought to our attention about the frustration around booking a flu appointment for a spouse, whereby one member was able to do this via a receptionist without question, and another was told that she was unable to do this, and her spouse would have to do this separately. This related to patient confidentiality and the receptionist not wanting to confirm that the patient was registered with us as the wife was not known to her. The wife showed an email from the husband to confirm that he gave consent, but the receptionist suggested that she may have made this up. It was felt that an element of common sense should be applied to individual circumstances to allow these sorts of appointments to be booked. Liz will speak to staff and the GP partners to get some further guidance.

• Action: Liz 

Question 2

Clarity around written signed letters requesting consent to be able to book appointments and speak on behalf of the other family members could be added to the records, and an alert to help with requests for any patients unable to call us directly themselves.

Question 3

We discussed the use of care planning for patients wishing to document their healthcare wishes. The practice uses data to identify patients who might want to discuss future care planning and for those who need more advanced care planning. Our home visiting team will contact patients to ask if they would be interested in discussing these care plans and arrange a mutually convenient time to discuss and record patient wishes. 

AOB

• Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 24th February 2026