ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how patients and carers can collaborate in their own care in a primary care setting in the following ways: ensuring they are supported to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence to be active participants in their own care and the development of new services, using approaches of involvement and co-production. Historically health services have been designed with the needs of the service provider in mind while failing to fully recognise or hear the needs of the patient. As individual practices start to work together more collaboratively to form primary care networks or large-scale general practitioner organisations, there will be opportunities for patient participation group (PPG) to pool resources and work more collectively, particularly on the issues that are common to regions or boroughs. The diversity of PPGs is to be welcomed as it enables groups to respond to the needs of their local communities; however, this may make their development and facilitation more complex.
