Draft Notes of

Haydon Bridge & Allendale Medical Practice Patient Participation Group (PPG) meeting 7th November 2016.

Item / Action
1 / In attendance
David Stewart – Patient rep.
Viv Middlemass – Patient rep.
Barry Clayton – Patient rep.
Jan Simmonds – Patient rep.
Joan Urwin – Patient rep.
Anne Grieve – Practice Manager
2 / Apologies
Vera Fletcher, Ian Fell, Roman Skowronski & Dr Michelle George.
3 / Welcome and Introductions
No new members in attendance.
4 / Minutes/notes of previous meeting and matters arising
Notes from the meeting held on 20th June were agreed.
Following the last locality Patient Forum meeting in August, patients had asked for an additional meeting to discuss PPG issues collectively.
A meeting had been arranged, but as only 2 patients had indicated their intention to attend the meeting had been stood down. The next locality Patient Forum is scheduled to take place in January.
Open meetings – agreed not to hold meetings for the sake of them, if and when an issue needs to be aired to the wider patient population a meeting/meetings will be called.
Chair – position still vacant.
Secretarial/admin. role also still required.
Patient survey – results had been shared with the whole practice team. Agreed that there is a role for more targeted and topic specificfuture surveys.
NHS Property services – no further news, issues ongoing.
AG advised that local contractor responsible for gritting and snow clearance has been replaced by a contractor from Newcastle. Should issues arise resulting in a deterioration of the service and the matter need escalating, AG will advise the Parish Council representatives accordingly.
Practice Finances – DS thanked AG for the informative meeting in August. ‘Practice Finances on a page’ distributed to those who had been unable to attend.
5 / Managing Patients with Long Term Conditions
The practice is involved in a piece of work commissioned by NCCG to improve patient access to GP appointments.
The general aim is to reduce the number of appointments utilised by patients with Long Term Conditions with GPs and consequently free up appointments to the general practice population, together with improving the patient experience for the ‘Long Term Condition’ patient.
Patients suffering from one or more of the following diseases diabetes, chronic heart disease, hypertension, asthma, chronic Kidney disease and atrial fibrillation will be see a more informative and streamlined approach to the management of their condition/s.
The main aims of the work are to:
  • Ensure patients are offered appropriate & safe treatment for their LTC
  • Ensure the fewest number of visits & most appropriate appointment with the most appropriate clinician
  • Streamline process to avoid waste, confusion & duplication
As part of the work Patient information fact sheets will be produced to help patients with their specific condition/s.
Members of the PPG happy to be involved in the development / testing stage.
Agreed that this is an area where more specific targeted patient questionnaires can be intorudced.
Long Term Conditions project summary sheet was circulated.
9 / Any other business
Dispensary – notice of a new delivery service to set locations for repeat dispensing. Not finalised yet but hopefully at locations throughout the practice area.
A letter will be sent to all dispensing patients to tell them about the new service and explain the role the dispensary plays in supporting the practice.
10 / Date and time of next meeting
Haydon Bridge Health Centre, date and time to be confirmed. / AG