Patient Engagement and

Population Demographics

The workshop asks What is Patient

Engagement? What is its purpose? How do we

engage with different groups and why is it

important to do so?

We will look at population demographics and

their impact on wider patient engagement.

Learnings from Workshop One will help you

with this workshop.

By the end of this workshop you should be able

to better understand population demographics

and how they influence patient engagement.

You will be able to use what you have learned

today to effectively communicate with your

patient population and be able to include

different groups within your PPG and the wider

practice.

Aims and Objectives of this Workshop

• What is a Patient Participation Group?

• Patient Participation Group

requirements

• Why are Patient Participation Groups

important?

• The importance of PPGS in CQC

inspection

• Who is part of the Patient Participation

Group

• Protected Characteristics- Equality Act

2010

• Patient & Carer Feedback

• Patient Participation Group Structure

• Patient Participation Group Reporting

Method

• Patient Participation Group Challenges

• Areas of impact: How are PPGs making

a difference?

Overview of Workshop 1:

Patient Participation :PPG 101

Share & discuss actions

from workshop 1

ACTIVITY

Patient engagement is enabling people to voice

their views, needs and wishes, and allowing

them to contribute to plans, changes and

decisions about services.

The term ‘patient’ includes everyone who uses

services or may do so in the future, including

carers and families. The patient is given a

platform for their voice to be heard. Within the

PPG context, Patient engagement allows for the

co-production of these plans, changes and

decisions about services with patients and

practice staff and the successful implementation

and delivery of them.

What is Patient Engagement?

• Building strong stakeholder and partner

relationships

• Building trust among staff, patients and wider

community

• Creating better solutions and outcomes for

patients

• Providing feedback on how engagement has

fed into decision-making-. E.g. ‘You said, we

did’.

• Ensuring any duties to engage with patients

and the public are understood and met.

• Patient involvement can increase their

knowledge of services and how to use them

appropriately.

• Patients can be supported to be in control of

their own health and care.

• Involvement in activity can increase patient

skills and confidence.

Why is it important?

• Have your say

• Share your great ideas

• Be part of our community, shape our health

services

• Your GP surgery, your voice

• Local people having a voice

• Stronger together

• Better together

• Patient voice

There are many ways to involve patients. The list

below are a few examples of engagement

strategies. The approach will differ depending on

the nature of the activity and the varying needs of

diverse groups of people.

One size does not fit all in the rules of

engagement.

Key Messaging:

Anything! As there are no specific requirements

on how to run your PPG.

Think outside the box! Whatever works to help

you engage with a wider demographic of people.

Some examples from other practices include:

Wordsworth Health Centre - Food Banks, coffee

mornings

Woodgrange Medical Practice - Community

Events

Starlane Medical Centre - Guests from local

community organisations attending meetings, fun,

interactive meetings

What can be done besides meetings?

Ways to involve patients and wider community in

and out of GP practice setting:

• Surveys

• Promotion- leaflets, noticeboards, libraries

• Events

• World café- Speed dating type event- round

table where people have short periods of time

in which to speak to each other before moving

on to next person.

• You said, we did

• Representation- Is PPG reflective of different

groups of people

• Feedback

• Networks- reaching out to wider community

links and avenues

• Community meetings

• Newsletters

What can be done besides meetings?

Ways to involve patients and wider community in

and out of GP practice setting:

• e-Consultation

• Social movements/ local causes

• Listen- to needs of patients

• Focus groups

• Social media

• Communities of interest- Those under 9

protected characteristics of the Equality Act

2010 e.g., Age, Disability, Gender

reassignment

• Citizen panels

• Questionnaires

• Campaigns

• Elected Representatives- Patient/ staff

champions

What can be done besides meetings?

• Clear and consistent communication-

Communication is key!

• Celebrate achievements - Enhances buy-

in, give credibility, promotes positive

message both in practice and wider

community.

• Incentivise - Link with local business

owners for free goodies and promotion of

PPG

• Utilize local organisations - Raise profile,

engage with wider demographic

• Self-care - holistic health advice/ info

events (Yoga, meditation, mindfulness)

• Interviews/ Case studies - share via social

media, online platforms, practice and

community newsletter etc

• Opportunities for CV development/ work

experience- Young people, Job seekers

etc

How to better engage with patients

– some examples:

‘As a carer, I am passionate about helping and caring for individuals who need it. I have been a carer for over

ten years and feel I have gained some invaluable skills. I feel our voices are important and it’s always good to

listen those who are using the services and have used services in the past. We can see where and when things

are going well and not so well. I hope I can help make valuable and positive changes to NHS services.’

Zhenreenah, Carer

‘I have an ambition to help as many people as possible to take ownership of their own health. Since travelling

this route myself, there have been great improvements in my health and quality of life even though I still have all

the same long-term health conditions. Through Building Healthy Communities, I hope everyone will enjoy a

better quality of service delivered close to home in an integrated way.’

Philip, Patient

What does Patient Engagement mean to you?

Why is it important ?

What does Patient Engagement mean

to you?

Why is it important ?

In your practice groups, use the post it

notes to write down your answers to the

above questions.

ACTIVITY

Demography contributes to helping government

and society better prepare to deal for the issues

and demands of population growth, aging and

migration. Statistics and predictions resulting from

demographic studies like the Census can, for

example, aid in the development of healthcare

systems.

Regarding patients, collecting data such as age,

ethnicity and race for example forms part of the

patient’s medical records. This allows for care

teams to best identify and address unique patient

needs and to be able to communicate with them

more effectively.

Demographics

– Why are Demographics important?

Newham is the fourth largest London Borough

with A total number of 402,117 registered patients

as of July 2018; with the population ever

increasing.

There are four key challenges to providing

healthcare services in Newham:

1. Historically poor healthcare outcomes

2. A large transient population (30%)

3. An increased and increasing population

4. Enormous diversity within the community

Ethnicity Breakdown of population within

Newham:

• 142,000 people identify as Asian

• 113,000 people identify as White

• 48,000 people identify as Black

• 31,000 people identify as Mixed/other

Further detailed information of Newham,

population demographics can be found here:

www.newham.info/factsandfigures

Newham Population Demographics

As shown in Workshop 1, it is a requirement

that PPGs are representative of a broad

range of patient demographics. This is

imperative for successful patient

engagement within the practice and its PPG

and must reflect the diversity of their patient

population. This will look very different

depending on the location of each practice.

On the right are some example questions to

monitor the level of representation of your

PPG. This can be used as a good initial

framework in which to demonstrate how well

each practice is doing this. It can also be

used as a reporting tool within your action

plans.

Why do practices want

Diverse representations at their PPGs?

Patient Group Number of Patient Reps

MeasuresTaken

a) Working age adults

b) Working age women

c) Children

d) Patients with learning difficulties/dementia

e) Patients with long term conditions

f) Patients with severe and enduring mental health problems

g) Patients that are housebound, dependent on home visits

Practices should demonstrate they have tried to

engage with any underrepresented and groups,

including patients with mental health conditions,

learning difficulties, hearing or visual impairments

and groups that fall under the protected

characteristics; as identified in the Equality Act

2010.

Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act

2010

1. Age

2. Disability

3. Gender reassignment

4. Marriage and civil partnership

5. Pregnancy and maternity

6. Race

7. Religion or belief

8. Sex

9. Sexual orientation

How can patients be recruited to reflect

Patient demographics?

Further information can be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/4

Some examples of how to engage with these

groups:

• Surveys/ questionnaires- face to face, social

media, email

• Information stalls/ tables- at practice, events

• Running meetings/ events with guest

speakers- Specialist staff from - visual or

hearing impairments, carers, diabetes services.

• Specific community groups- Translation

services, community champion/ rep

• Housebound individuals-

Email/text/telephone/visit

Where to engage:

• Community events- E.g. the Newham Show

• Local targeted projects- E.g.- Ashton-

Mansfield’s Paris project- LGBT Youth support

group

• Community neighbourhoods’ sessions that run

from libraries- Under 5’s groups, youth groups

• Community/ religious organisations-E.g. Roma

Support Group/ The Muslim Community Centre

and Mosque

Patient Participation Group Structure

Woodgrange Medical Practice

Woodgrange had implemented a "You Said,

We Did" system and information sheet for

patients and other stakeholders that showed

actions it had undertaken in response to

feedback. Feedback has led to:

• Improving patient’s privacy and safety by

installing higher visibility signage and a

‘please wait here’ bollard and sign.

• Addressing issues to the telephone

appointment system by advising patients

about online system and recruiting more

reception staff.

Examples of PPG patient Engagement methods that have

positively GP practices

• Bringing back their quarterly newsletter to update

patients on practice and general health information.

The practice worked closely with other organisations and

with the local community in planning how services were

provided to ensure that they meet patients’ needs. For

example, it had a GP partner with a special interest in

dermatology and offered clinics across the CCG.

Wordsworth Health Centre

Wordsworth share the minutes of their PPG meetings via email to

all attendees; also on the practice website and PPG notice board.

Actions are published in the practice newsletter, to communicate to

all patients.

Examples of patient feedback and changes made to service

delivery include:

• To help with prescription dispensing issues and causing

confusion between patient and chemist- New Pharmacist in

post.

• Raising more awareness of the PPG- Receptionists to know

more about PPG and dates.

Examples of PPG patient Engagement methods that have positively impacted GP practices

The project aimed to set up a multi-agency

training and development initiative utilising the

Newham Carers Network, a local voluntary

sector organisation led by carers, to develop a

training and development programme for carers.

The project focused on two key learning areas:

improving primary care access for carers and

developing carer friendly diabetes self-

management education. Key activities included:

• 904 community engagement contacts by

Newham Carers Network

• 2 managing diabetes workshops by NHS

diabetes HCPs reaching 28 people; including

coproducing the learning model with 2 carers

living with diabetes, and commissioners

• 2 navigating primary care workshops by

commissioners reaching 30 people

Empowering carers and communities Project

• 1 taster session navigating primary care workshop

hosted by Subco Trust who support vulnerable

Asian elders, reaching 22 members.

Reasons for participant involvement in

project:

• “I care for my husband who suffers from

diabetes, and also dementia, currently I am

also borderline diabetic.”

• “I am attending to get more information to be

able to support and care for my wife who

suffers from diabetes.”

• “I am not really aware of the choices and not

well informed (primary care services).”

• “I just want to learn as much as I can – there is

no harm to keep up to date (primary care

services).”

Empowering carers and communities

Key outcomes from the engagement activities:

• The project has informed commissioning for

diabetes education and the commissioner has

committed to ensuring learning sessions in

community settings will form part of future

service delivery.

• We will share a summary of the project’s aims

and outcomes with primary care

commissioning colleagues as part of our wider

engagement to raise the profile of carers in

primary care.

• A carers guide to GP services in Newham was

developed as part of the project and will be

shared by Newham Carers Network with carers

during initial assessments for carers.

Empowering carers and communities

Fill in the demographics table in relation to

your own PPG. Discuss any issues and

challenges in pairs.

How can patients be recruited to reflect

patient demographics? What examples can

you think of?

Activity

• Blog: ‘Patient Engagement: A ‘win win’ for

people and services.

www.england.nhs.uk/blog/patient-engagement-a-

win-win-for-people-and-services/

• Toolkit for Communications and Engagement

Teams in Service Change Programmes

https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/163/10473

-NHSI-Toolkit-INTERACTIVE-04.pdf

• 25 Creative Ways to Increase Patient

Engagement

https://blog.evisit.com/25-creative-ways-increase-

patient-engagement

• Newham borough demographics

http://www.newham.info/factsandfigures

Useful Resources

• Empowering Carers and Communities April 2017- March

2018 report

www.newhamccg.nhs.uk/Downloads/Get-Involved/Our-

engagement-approach/Empowering-Carers-project-

report.pdf