A Ledbury GP practice will host regular meetings to discuss issues and get feedback from patients.

Ledbury Health Partnership said it had an “overwhelming” response to a request for volunteers to participate in the group.

The inaugural meeting of the Ledbury Health Partnership Patient Participation Group (LHP PPG) took place on May 10.

A spokesperson for the practice said: “The response to the invitation for volunteers to participate in the group was overwhelming, which means that we have an excellent nucleus of people with whom to move forwards.

“The group intends to explore patient feedback, and work with LHP for the benefit of patients, sharing, discussing and implementing suggestions.

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“It will also seek to improve patient awareness of the various routes of access to, and methods of delivery of, primary healthcare.”

It is also intended that the group will gain a better understanding of the new Integrated Care System, which spans Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and share this information.

The PPG regular meetings, including those with LHP, will be minuted, and the outcomes shared in the form of patient newsletters (electronic and hard copies), and posted on the LHP website.

The first meeting of the PPG will be held on June 7, when a constitution and terms of reference will be approved, and a committee elected.

In response to concerns over the accessibility of appointments Lynda Dando, director for primary care at NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “Despite the growing pressures and challenges for General Practice across the country, our GP practices perform consistently above regional and national levels regarding the number of appointments to population as well as the average number of appointments per practice.

“We know there is still scope for improvement to accessing appointments in some areas, and some people will have individual issues, but it’s important to note that as a whole we are fortunate to consistently have some of the highest quality care across England.” 

She said a new Enhanced Access Service had been rolled out, opening up more appointments in the evenings and weekends including some routine monitoring like blood tests.

Appointments can also be accessed through NHS 111.