Corbridge Medical Group
Patient Representation Group
Thursday 8thDecember 2016, Corbridge Health Centre, 7pm
Minutes
In Attendance
MM, SL, PB, FMcC, Dr Robin Hudson and Julie Johnston (Practice Manager)
Apologies for absence
SA, MB, BC, Nicola Lamb (Reception Manager)
Welcome and Introductions
Unfortunately SA and EDG have withdrawn from the group but have agreed to remain in touch via email. We will miss the input particularly from SA who has been a regular and active participant since we started the PRG.
Everyone was asked to mention the group to fellow patients and encourage others to join.
Progress on Action Plan
The action plan was reviewed, having been circulated in advance, and the following points were noted:
The website does not list online bookings at the beginning of the section on appointment bookings and it was felt this should be more prominent if we are to encourage greater use of the system. Julie agreed to amend this.
Stats show that amongst the 45-74 age groups the use of online booking for GP appointments is at around 10% which is higher than previously indicated but has room for improvement. Julie noted that we have not yet added telephone appointments to the online booking system because of problems which have arisen in the past when patients have booked a telephone appointment thinking it was face to face – they have then arrived at the surgery expecting to be seen which can cause problems when the GP expected to speak to them by telephone.
All members present were still experiencing problems logging onto the site with an error message coming up each time. Regular users of the EMIS Access facility will know to ignore this message but new users may be put off by this. Julie agreed to ring EMIS again for a solution – previously they had suggested that this may be an issue with certain browsers but those present were able to confirm that they were using the up to date versions suggesting this is not the case. It was suggested that Julie ask EMIS which browsers are compatible so we can check their explanation.
The practice website needs updating – particularly with reference to Dr Schatzberger’s availability. The list of doctor and nurse availability is out of date. Julie apologised for this and assured the group she would address this asap.
The patient leaflet with information about GP appointments had gone out to households and the new arrangements for GP appointments was being positively received. Many patients are now asking for telephone appointments when appropriate and this was proving particularly useful for housebound patients. One issue we have encountered is with patients not answering the telephone because our number is withheld. This had previously been seen as a means of protecting patients’ confidentiality when ringing the household telephone but is considered less of an issue now with more telephone calls being made to mobiles. The PRG members agreed that removing the ‘withheld number’ service would be considered appropriate if it meant patients were more readily contactable which saves time re-ringing.
The 30 minute review appointments have started with around 20 having been done so far. This will progress further throughout this year.
New signage for the front of the health centre was currently being developed and Julie had a couple of samples which the designers had recently supplied. The plan is to move the brown and beige ‘Corbridge Health Centre’ sign to the other side of the staff car park and to change the sign to make it clear that to the left is the lift, staff parking and reception for hospital services and to the right, patient parking, GP surgery and main reception. The colours will also be changed so that the sign stands out at a glance to patients as they approach the ramp up to the top car park. We will send final proofs around the PRG for comments before ordering the sign.
Julie had been in contact with the County Council regarding the entrance to the health centre and subsequently attended a meeting of the Parish Council where various issues regarding Newcastle Road had been discussed including the cycle lanes, the parking problem and the markings at the health centre entrance. No clear conclusions were reached about what was best for the road but our points about the speed, visibility and poor markings were taken forward for discussion by the highways agency.
Friends and Family feedback
Julie had produced a report which included all Friends and Family responses for Sept to Nov which showed a slight increase. Putting the forms and the box on the coffee table in Reception seemed to have improved uptake and members of the group were reminded that the form was also accessible electronically from the Website.
Comments were mostly positive.
Northumberland ACO/Vanguard Project – Dr Hudson
Dr Hudson gave a presentation on the work currently ongoing within the CCG and his roles as Primary Care Quality Lead/Clinical Director for Northumberland Vanguard Project. The presentation is attached with the minutes and those members of the group who were not present are welcome to raise any questions or queries at our next meeting.
The presentation gave information on a number of projects currently underway to improve integration of services across primary and secondary care. These will facilitate changes which are planned for April 2017 which will involve the amalgamation of budgets and the creation of new pathways of care designed to keep patients out of hospital settings by improving access to GP surgeries and developing more multi-disciplinary teams to provide care closer to patients’ homes.
6. Practice Clinical Audits – Dr Hudson
Dr Hudson gave a brief overview of the types of audit which are undertaken within the practice. Audits are a means of ensuring that we adhere to current guidelines, that we have consistent approaches to coding, reviews, prescribing etc. Some audits are arranged internally by GPs with specific responsibility for a clinical area and others are initiated externally eg many of our prescribing audits are reported back to the CCG for monitoring etc. Where an audit suggests improvement can be made we will re-audit after a set period of time and measure improvements or progress against particular targets.
AOB
An issue was raised about annual reviews which seem to have slipped recently. Julie agreed to investigate this. [It was later discovered that the November cardiovascular review letters had not been sent because a member of staff had been on long-term sick leave. Julie sent these letters out on Monday 12th December. ]
Date of next Meeting
A provisional date was set for Wednesday 8th March 2017. If this date is inconvenient please let Julie know so that an alternative can be suggested nearer the time.