THE Peterculter Patient Participation Group (PPPG) met on the 21st March in the village hall for an Extraordinary General Meeting principally to discuss whether the PPPG should be wound up, or put on ice for the time being. The options were obvious in that it was felt that perhaps the time had come when the usefulness of the Group had outgrown itself and could no longer serve a purpose in the Culter Community.

The Group felt that due to the lack of support at open meetings in the past, it was not worth the effort to organise further meetings because no one attended other than the members of the Committee and some of the medical staff of the Medical Practice. We reviewed our past record of achievements especially with regard to the quality of speakers and to the equipment that we had funded through raffles held at the meetings. In the end it was felt that we could not just throw all this away without once more trying to catch the interest of the Patients of the Practice. I am pleased therefore to tell you that we will carry on with the intention that later this year we may introduce some changes which will give a new lease of life to the Group.

We have recently recruited a new committee member who will add some ideas as to where we go from here, and we may change the name from the PPPG to something like the Peterculter Patients' Forum. However, this is only a start and I once again urge all readers to consider supporting us on the Committee. It does not involve much work and the Staff of the Medical Practice will help out. I hope I can persuade you to think about supporting us especially from those of you in the younger generation with young children, as there are so many areas where you can participate in improving the service we get through the NHS.

You can contact me on e-mail GBuck91@aol.com 

George Buckenham