Patient participation groups could provide huge voluntary support to the NHS

NHS England has announced more plans for reorganising the NHS.1

Patient participation groups were the idea of a doctor in 1972 to support the work of medical practices in much the same way as parent teacher associations support schools. They were slow to take off, and even though about 75% of general practitioners now sign a contractual agreement to have them, many people don’t know they exist. The reason for this apparent reluctance to participate might be that the fittest patients to run these voluntary groups are …