MINUTES OF PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP (PPG) AGM AND MEETING
Monday 3 February 2014
Present: Chris Langley, Jo Rushton, Cathy Ronald, Josie Campbell, Linda Moore, Cathy Formon, Angela Mosey, Janet Waters, Dieter Hinke, Frances Lefebure, Barbara Maynes, Louise Sadler
Apologies: Lynne Alderson, Jane Aitken, Penny Gilbert, Peter Riley
Cathy thanked Barbara who has completed six years on the PPG, making this her last meeting. Penny has also served the full six years so will be leaving and Cathy thanked her in her absence.
AGM
Chair’s Report: Janet passed round last year’s summary. She thanked all PPG members for their input during her first year as Chair which has seen a lot of changes in the NHS. She has attended SELF and NAPP meetings which has given her insight into what other PPGs are doing in our locality. She thanked the surgery for funding NAPP. Some PPGs are more pro-active than others and she feels our group is in the middle so there is progress to be made in the future.
Election of Members: Janet would like a Vice-Chair and proposed Dieter. Dieter is also willing to act as the Council’s representative on the PPG which could be a useful link in relation to local projects such as the new Townlands hospital. This could potentially leave another patient member space. Louise has agreed to join and Peter Riley was also proposed in his absence. These elections to the PPG were seconded and carried and the AGM was then closed.
PPG MEETING
Matters arising: there were none.
Change of name: it was agreed to change the name from Patient Panel to Patient Participation Group (PPG) in line with current usage. The old Constitution was out-of-date and has been re-worked as a Statement of Intent. Members had been able to read this shorter document and agreed it.
SELF (South East Locality Forum): Both Janet and Dieter have attended meetings. Dieter reported that the subject matter can focus on larger national or Oxfordshire issues rather than what the local PPGs are concerned with, but this is gradually changing to deal more with local matters. It is a useful forum to discuss both problems experienced by other Practices as well as their positive achievements and feedback can then be passed upwards from SELF to the CCGs. A recent topic of discussion was the changes in ear suction provision. Janet will circulate the minutes of the most recent SELF meeting.
Townlands: Chris had not much to report. The Consultant Rheumatologist, Dr Tony Chan, is in charge of the planned outpatient facilities in the new hospital and the number of rooms provided for this has doubled compared to the original plan. The feeling was that the January meeting had been much more positive and we are very close to getting the contracts finally signed, the legal delays being due to the various signatories involved, such as Sue Ryder and Chilterns End. Janet felt other PPGs could link in to the Townlands project as several local Practices will also be using the new hospital.
Moving Forward in 2014/PPG Awareness Week: Janet felt there might be some scope for individual PPG members to capitalise on what interests them personally, perhaps to research specific topics and bring their results to the meetings. Chris suggested forming subgroups with members of other local PPGs who share those interests/concerns. There was further discussion on methods of communicating the work of the PPG to patients and raising the profile of the Practice. The surgery is making more use of email and SMS texting to contact patients and Angela suggested providing patients when they register with a PIN to enable them to book appointments online. We discussed how to get people on board and inform them of our range of services and Louise and Josie volunteered to work on this together. Dieter said we needed a more striking display on the surgery notice board and perhaps new topics on the screen in the waiting room. Perhaps we could have some form of display in the town centre, though Chris said this would have to be agreed with the Hart Practice.
Patient Survey: Cathy said the survey closed on 31 January. There were 177 responses and Emma is currently collating the results. Most responses were on paper rather than online – Dieter said it would be interesting to know the age profile of the respondents. There is an ongoing problem of engaging with young people and we had a poor response from Henley College. There will be a separate meeting to present the final survey results to the PPG members and agree an action plan.
Patient Feedback: The general feeling is that patients are not aware of the PPG and Janet feels other surgeries have better communication channels. The Virtual Panel is growing and our newsletter is circulated to them. The general feeling is that we need to educate patients about the services we offer.
Update from Surgery: There have been several changes. Dr Saw has left and we have appointed Dr Shellani Knight to replace him and she has just started. She is an experienced GP who has been involved in elderly care and women’s health. She also works for the GMC and is a very enthusiastic member of the team. Our GP Registrar, Dr Tom Morgan, has finished his six month with us and we have a new Registrar, Dr Alastair Petter, starting this week. Dr Collett retires at the end of March and a new GP, Dr Tamara Cunningham who currently works in Goring, will replace her in the summer. There have been alterations to the surgery and we now have three new rooms plus a waiting area in place of the old Baby Clinic. One room will be used by the GP trainee and the others may be rented out for private use by local services and Consultants.
AOB: There was some discussion further to Lynne’s email about the planned data capture by the HSCIC. Janet said the NAPP newsletter provides a useful link to a video explaining the benefits of this exercise. Dieter produced cuttings of recent newspaper articles, all of which portrayed the NHS and GPs in a negative light, and wondered if the PPGs could counteract this bad press in any way.
Date of next meeting: Janet and Cathy will liaise about this and notify PPG members
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