NEWTON MEDICAL CENTRE - PATIENTS’ PARTICIPATION GROUP

Minutes of the General Meeting

Wednesday, 22nd July 2015 at 18:00 BST

Present: Graham Barton

Geoff Forshaw

Wendy Littler

Rachel Littler

Fiona Longworth

John Richards

Steven Wilks

Apologies:Alan Rose

Arthur Bond

Ann Clare

Jeanette Singleton

The meeting was quorate and lead by the Chair, Rachel Littler

Minutes of Last Meeting

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 25th May 2015 were accepted as a true record.

Matters Arising

Patient Transport: John Richards had liaised with a Governor from the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. It was deemed infeasible for the practice to offer a transport facility at this time.

GP / Consultant Nurse Cover: Dr Dass will be leaving the practice on 14th August and locum cover will be sought. Sandra Bathgate will be away for a while. See AOB - Staffing

Patient Survey

Wendy Littler, Rachel Littler and Fiona Longworth have been collating the recent Patient Survey pro-forma. The PPG agreed that some questions seemed irrelevant as there was no action that could reasonably be taken to influence the outcomes but these remain mandatory.

Not all the surveys have yet been read but some issues have arisen:

A significant number of service-users remain unaware of:

EMIS and the online facilities it affords

The ability to book routine appointments four weeks in advance

That urgent cases may be seen on the day, subject to triage

That a chaperoning service is available

Two of the respondents have expressed interest in the PPG

PPG Newsletter

Rachel Littler has produced a PPG Newsletter containing information about the group and its membership, key staff personnel and facilities offered by the practice. It will be published quarterly, with copies available on the PPG notice board.

PPG Notice Board

Rachel Littler has commandeered a board for the PPG which now contains details of the group and contact details along with other PPG information. It was agreed that it needs a PPG banner to better identify it.

Any Other Business

PPG Electronic Profile: Wendy Littler will liaise with SSP IT to see if the PPG Minutes, Agendas and group details can be regularly published on the SSP website which now has a PPG portal.

Staffing: In light of Dr Dass leaving and Sandra Bathgate being on leave there will likely be a void of female practitioners. The practice nurse is able to prescribe and may be able to accommodate some patients requesting a female practitioner. However it was deemed appropriate that the chaperoning service should be given a greater profile. The current draft of the PPG Newsletter will be edited to advertise this.

Social Media: Rachel Littler and Wendy Littler were aware of a disgruntled service-user making comments on local community pages of Facebook. The individual was referred to appropriate information and redress via the practice. The issue of the practice and/or PPG having its own Facebook page was discussed. John Richards suggested a model similar to that of the 5 Boroughs Partnership; where service information is available and patients are directed to the practice. The public may make contact via private messaging but may not post publicly on the portal. Wendy Littler will look into the ramifications of such a platform.

EMIS: The facility is sunder-utilised with many patients not aware of its facilities. Many who previously used VISION are not registered for EMIS. It will be publicised on the PPG notice board and newsletter

Dementia Friends: PPG members will join staff in becoming Dementia Friends following training sessions commencing in August 2015.

Macmillan Coffee Morning: The PPG will strive to hold an event in the practice on 23rd September. It was agreed that such activities could be undertaken by the PPG for other campaigns.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 16th September at 18:00