Following the merger of the two patient participation groups from Somerton House and St Chads & Chilcompton Surgeries earlier this year, the two ‘Friends’ groups are looking at how they should operate.

The Friends of St Chads & Chilcompton is a registered charity so any merger and new rules must be approved by the Charity Commission.

PPGs, made up of volunteer patients, a practice manager and one or more of the GPs from a practice, meet on a regular basis to discuss services and how improvements can be made at the practice. The aims and work of each group entirely depends on local needs - but they all have the aim of making sure that their practice puts the patient first.

St Chads Friends Group has bought equipment to improve patient wellbeing for almost 25 years because they “felt that it was important for them to do”. They estimate that £80,000 of equipment has been purchased.

On Thursday, June 20, the Friends of St Chads have arranged an Extraordinary General Meeting at Somer Centre at 5:30pm. Together with the committee from Somerton House they will be proposing merging under the new practice name. This is an opportunity to find out more about the groups, how they operate and to get involved.