Join a Group

Lincolnshire NHS Citizens’ Panel

A Citizens’ Panel is a sample of residents who have volunteered to take part in regular research and questionnaires. In Lincolnshire, the Citizen Panel is an exciting development for the NHS that will help us gather feedback from a sample of our population and give local residents the opportunity to share their opinions and views on health and care services within the county. The information we receive will help to ensure that services are designed and delivered to take into account what matters most to our residents. Find out more.

Patient Participation Group (PPG)

A PPG is usually made up of a small group of volunteer patients who meet on a regular basis to discuss the services on offer and how improvements could be made for the benefit of the patients and the practice. In order to join your practice’s PPG, you must be registered as a patient at that practice.

A PPG can play a number of roles, including:

- Advising the practice on the patient perspective
- Communicating with the wider patient body
- Carrying out research into the views of those who use the practice (and their carers)
- Influencing the practice or the wider NHS to make improvements

Patients are invited to put their ideas forward to their PPG so that they can discuss with the practice team for considerations.

To find out if your registered GP Practice has a patient participation group, please contact them directly or visit their website.

Patient reference group (PRG)

A PRG differs from a Patient Participation Group (PPG) in that there are no meetings to attend. To become a member of your practice’s PRG, you must be registered as a patient at that practice.

As a PRG member, you could be:

Asked for your views on what works, what doesn’t and what improvements could be made at your GP practice
Asked questions from time to time, such as what you think about opening times or the quality of the care or service you received
Contacted via email and asked to complete short surveys on possible changes to services at your GP practice

A PRG aims to involve as many patients as possible in order to achieve a real mix of patients that are representative of their full patient base. This includes young people, workers, retirees, people with long term conditions and people from non-British ethnic groups.

To find out if your registered GP Practice has a patient reference group, please contact them directly or visit their website.

Become a member/Get involved

Many people love the NHS and also have experience of health and care services in their area. Becoming a member is a way of being involved in the work of your local services and helping to influence how they develop and how they deliver care.

Being a member can mean as much or as little commitment as you wish. For some, it will just involve being kept up to date on the latest news, for others it can be more active involvement through sharing views on plans or policies, patient representative activities or attending events and meetings. Whichever level of participation you choose, your views always count.

To become a member of any of Lincolnshire’s Trusts, please click on the links below:

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board - Join our people’s panels

Volunteering

The NHS recognises the important role that volunteers can play in improving the experience of patients and complementing the work of staff. Volunteers can make a huge difference to our patients’ experience. Each year hundreds of volunteers give their time freely to Lincolnshire’s NHS and we greatly value their individual contribution.

Find out more about the range of volunteering roles on offer across our Trusts:

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Join a Reader’s Panel

Each Trusts produces a wide range of resources aimed at giving patients the information they need to complement their care. We are committed to ensuring it is easy to understand, useful and accessible to all sections of the community.

As members of the panel, volunteers are sent information such as leaflets and policies to read and comment on and are asked to think about: