Minutes of Danebridge PPG Meeting

Date: 16 February 2017

Venue: Kingsmead Surgery Meeting Room

ITEMS OF BUSINESS

1.  Attendance

Present: Sue McKenzie, Sheila Bowker, Gilly Davis, Philip Greasby, Beth Hanson, Valerie Mais, Monica Foster, Lee Brown, Simon Howard (Observer), Noreen Caldwell (For Agenda Item 4).

Apologies: Norma Broadhurst, Lo Munro, Les James, Ellie Thomas, Gwenno Shalders, Les Moore, Christine Pickthall, Mo Morron, Russell Smith

2.  Approval of Minutes and Action Log Update

The minutes were approved. Simon was welcomed to the meeting. On the Action Log:


127/17 Clare Davies,Practice Pharmacist, will check if she is available in March to

update PPG on her activities.

128/17 It was agreed that Ellie will brief PPG on ‘Tackling Obesity’ at its March meeting.

132/17 Monica volunteered to chair PPG in March.

3.  Practice Update

Philip reported:

i.  The Practice had placed an advert for GPs in the British Medical Journal. There had been 5 expressions of interest but this had not led to recruitment so far.

ii.  A meeting had taken place on 13 February with the CCG. Approval had been given to close the list to new patients for four months. The Practice will consider what to do at the end of this period. Options are being explored. There had also been discussions on GP recruitment issues and the use of Locums to cover vacancies.

iii.  Funds are available to recruit a second Pharmacist for the Practice to cover Kingsmead and Sandiway.

iv.  Staff Development has started to put in place a ‘Care Navigation Support Team’ to steer patients to the most appropriate type of support. A pilot scheme had found that this type of signposting increased productive time for GPs.

v.  Practices across Northwich are working collaboratively to make the best use of their combined resources to meet patient needs.

vi.  The Practice’s IT lead had met with an NHS Alliance IT expert to discuss issues. Funding will be sought to upgrade the telephone system. The IT system will also be upgraded to provide better support for staff.

vii.  GP contracts have been agreed. Philip will provide details on implications for services at our next meeting.

ACTION: Philip

4.  PPG involvement with Vale Royal CCG

Noreen Caldwell reminded PPG of the issues that had led to the development of a new model to engage them in determining the priorities for CCG. She had delivered presentations to a number of PPGs and other organisations. There was general support for the model. The aim is to put in place better facilitation, more strategic involvement of PPGs, cross pollination of ideas and actions and leadership committed to sharing its vision and delivering priorities.

Valerie asked how meetings would be organised and agendas decided. Noreen will facilitate meetings and the agenda will be set by the ‘Care Community’ identifying areas and issues that need better definition of coverage and identification of gaps in provision.

Monica sought more clarity on how it would work and the structures that would be in place. Noreen said the clusters/hubs would need to be active and develop action plans to take forward agreements. By knowing the subjects and issues on the agenda a PPG would be able to decide appropriate attenders. Attendance could vary according to subject matter.

Noreen said the model will be judged successful on the basis of numbers attending meetings and the quality of information provided and problems addressed.

Valerie commented that PPGs vary in their activity and areas of interest and asked how this would impact on the proposed model. Noreen said she had found enthusiasm from a range of PPGs for the approach.

Sue asked what the Practice’s view was of the proposal and how we could ensure we worked together in developing priorities. Beth described how the Practice would work with others in the town to gather information and provide views to CCG. She said differences in views between levels of the NHS were legitimate.

There was concern from PPG that non-medical people would put forward priorities and proposals that were not useful to CCG. Noreen responded that it would be for her as facilitator to work with people to make sure this did not happen.

Sue told Noreen that Danebridge PPG supported the proposal in principle. Noreen thanked the meeting and said the aim was to hold an initial meeting in April. She also told PPG that the VIP approach will be launched on 1 March in Crewe and Winsford.

5.  Planning Future PPG Activities

i.  The Practice had advertised ‘Dry January’ in the three surgeries. ‘Wear It, Beat It’ had been postponed to 9 June.

ii.  ‘Tackling Obesity/Eating Disorders Awareness’ – Ellie will brief PPG in March.

iii.  ‘Prostate Cancer’ – Lee will provide posters for the surgeries. He will also send an email link on leaflets to Beth for review and will check if leaflets can be sourced for the awareness week.

ACTION: Lee

Lee was asked to include a list of upcoming awareness days for the next quarter.

6.  Redesign of PPG Membership Pack

Sue and Gilly had reviewed the pack and supporting material. Sue circulated a note on proposed changes to the pack. She highlighted:

i.  The need to differentiate between PRG and PPG in the covering letter to help applicants understand their roles and what they are seeking to join.

ii.  There should be no time limit on membership. PPG should determine how membership is managed so as to maintain representativeness, continuity of knowledge and numbers.

iii.  Applicants should be invited as observers to PPG to ensure it is what they expected and so they can judge if they can add value.

Gilly had reviewed the information on the Practice and was updating it. Monica suggested the Practice put information on the role of PPG on its TV screens. Gilly agreed to do this.

ACTION: Gilly

7.  PPG Attendance at a Practice Meeting
Sue reminded that the purpose of attendance was to raise staff awareness that PPG exists and seek their views on how it could add value. Gilly will check when the Practice Learning Time has a suitable slot.

ACTION: Gilly

8.  AOB

Gilly reported that, acting on PPG advice, a table had been ordered for the Community Area of Danebridge surgery for patients to use to fill in forms.

9.  Closure and Next Meeting

Next Meeting: Thursday 16 March, 17.00 – 18.30, Kingsmead Surgery

Proposed Agenda Items: Ellie on Obesity/Eating Disorders

Philip on GP Contracts

Planning future activities.

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