Ask for a meeting with the practice manager

Meeting with the practice manager takes a little preparation and time. It is very effective because as co-ordinator of the running of the surgery, the practice manager has a lot of influence over all the staff. It works especially well if you feel most comfortable with planned, structured and uninterrupted one-to-one conversation.

What to do

Phone, visit or write to your GP’s surgery to ask to arrange a time to meet with the practice manager to talk about services for older people who do not see or hear well. Plan what you want to say, taking account of how much time you have for the meeting. You will probably have enough time to cover most of the information listed in the key messages. After your meeting, write a short (one page) letter thanking the practice manager for meeting you and reminding him/her of your main points and of any actions agreed. You can use our template (word, 26kb) to help you.

To have impact

• Plan what you want to say. If you are worried about forgetting what you want to say, write a list of prompts.
• Have a clear objective. Make sure that you are clear what it is you want to achieve at the meeting. For example, you might want to persuade the practice manager to put up the two posters, get him/her to agree to find out about local services for deafblind older people or to get him/her to raise the issue with the GPs.
• Use personal experience to illustrate, and bring to life the information. For example, if you have an older relative who is deafblind, describe how deaf blindness affects him/her and the rest of the family. Alternatively, use one of the case studies in ‘It All Adds Up’. Explain how support has or could improve his/her health, independence and activity levels. Personal stories have a powerful impact on people.
• Emphasise that GPs have a vital role to play in referring older deafblind people for support.

Follow-up with a letter on this page to thank the practice manager and to remind him/her of your main points and any actions that were agreed.