Health meeting will put new regime of inspecting GP surgeries under the spotlight

Dacorum Patients’ Group and Healthwatch Herts have joined forces for the event on Tuesday, April 21.

Inspection manager for the Care Quality Commission will be speaking and answering questions from the public on how surgeries are inspected and why it is so important.

All GP surgeries in England are now inspected and rated by the commission - it is the first time that primary care services have been independently regulated.

They are rated as outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate by inspectors.

From this month, once a practice has been inspected it must display its rating prominently within the surgery. Chairman of Dacorum Patients’ Group Ivor Eisenstadt said: “With the election just around the corner it’s clear that the future of the NHS is going to be one of the biggest issues. 90 percent of our contact with the health service is through our GPs, and with rapidly increasing demands on them, it has never been more important for everyone to find out what’s going on and get involved.”

Healthwatch Hertfordshire chief executive Geoff Brown added: “Putting the patient at the centre of their healthcare is vital to a well-run system, but this can only happen when people want to get involved. This event is the perfect opportunity for people to come along and find out what changes are happening to their GP services. Healthwatch Hertfordshire are really happy to be working with the Dacorum Patients’ Group to help raise awareness of the power patients have to affect the way their surgery operates.”

The meeting is being held from 7.30pm to 9pm at the South Hill Centre, Cemetery Hill, Hemel Hempstead.

To find out more visit www.dacorumpatientsgroup.org.uk