Patient Representative Group Meeting

MINUTES

The Harlequin Surgery Patient Representative Group Meeting

Tuesday, 25th June 2013

6pm to 7.15pm

AF welcomed everyone to the meeting.

SD introduced LM who is covering for Josie McCutcheon whilst she is on maternity leave and is also providing some support for the secretaries.

Minutes of the Last Meeting

These were accepted as a true record of the meeting.

It was agreed matters arising would be picked up during agenda items.

Out of Hours Surgery

LB explained his reasons for adding this as an agenda item. Out of Hours cover was currently in the news and he was interested in learning what procedures the Harlequin Surgery had to provide this service.

SD explained that previously out of hours cover had been provided by Badger, however, NHS 111 was now being used. The decision to change was made as It was felt that the Practice would have been in breach of its contract if it did not use NHS 111. SD confirmed that she was not aware of any complaints from patients using NHS111.

SD confirmed that on average the practice only had 4/5 out of hours calls or faxes per day, rising to 20/25 at a weekend. Discussions took place around whether the calls were genuine or could be avoided. Most are genuine.

Discussions took place around whether the Practice would consider opting out of NHS111 and providing their own out of hours service. It was agreed demand would not warrant this and SD advised that it could not be done for the practice alone as it was unlikely funding would be provided.

It was agreed that it would be interesting to see if NHS 111 kept patients out of A&E. SD confirmed that a survey/audit would be done at an appropriate time.

On-Line Prescriptions

MR raised concerns that on-line requests were taking longer than 2 days to process. He provided details of a recent experience where it had taken nearly a week to get the prescription requested. He acknowledged that the request may have been delayed due to a bank holiday but this was still outside the 2 days promised.

SD advised that prescriptions go to the GPs for signature/authorisation every morning. She also confirmed that on-line requests are viewed each morning by 3 members of staff and agreed that these should not take longer than those being brought into the surgery.

SD acknowledged that there had been a problem previously with audit trails but that Josie had put new processes in place to ensure that audit trails were now available. It was agreed the system has to work efficiently otherwise patients will not use it.

DR raised concerns about pharmacies collecting prescriptions from the reception desk. Details of an incident were provided where there was a problem which took some time to sort and patients were queuing out of the door.

SD explained the system for pharmacies collecting prescriptions and acknowledged that on rare occasions problems did occur. She also advised that there was an ongoing problem with the electronic patient registration system which did not help the situation (see details under “any other business”).

MC provided details of a problem he and his wife had experienced with regards to the collection of prescriptions. When he recently called to collect a repeat prescription he was told this was not in the Practice but was at the pharmacist across the road. Neither he nor his wife had asked for this service. SD advised this should not happen unless a preferred chemist had been authorised by the patient. She will look at the system and make sure no preferred chemist is registered for MC and his wife. Action: SD to check no preferred chemist registered for MC and his wife.

Past problems with regards to certain chemists ordering items which were not required on prescription were discussed. SD advised that Medicines Management were aware of the problems and had worked hard to ensure this did not happen in future. Any reported incidents are being investigated by them.

Discussions then took place around chemists doing blood pressure readings. Concerns were raised about chemists using this to make money. SD advised that chemists will get paid for doing these tests even without a patients NHS details.

Exhibitions / Seminars

AF requested this item to be on the agenda as he wanted to see if the Practice were interested in doing any exhibitions / seminars. He provided details of events held by the Kingshurst Patient Representative Group. SD believes that some of the Sutton practices also hold such events.

Following discussions it was agreed that these were a good idea and SD will speak to some of the Practice Managers in Sutton about what they do. She will also speak to Kingshurst practice.Action: SD for ascertain details of what other practices provide.

Discussions took place around possible venues for such events. Depending on the size of the event these could be held in the training room at The Harlequin. It was suggested the Group could also look into obtaining funding to hold events at alternativevenues. The possibility of joining with other groups to fund events was also suggested.

Action: AF will send contact details for Kingshurst Practice and their events organiser to SD.

Patient Survey

SD advised that she is starting to think about the questions for the next patient survey and asked for any input / suggestions.

Details were provided of how patients were approached to complete the last survey whilst waiting to see clinical staff. Many patients were not very keen to fill out the form themselves but were happy to answer questions for someone to enter the details for them.

It was advised that Manor Practice in Sutton do a survey on-line and get a very good response.

It was agreed that to be successful the survey needs to be short with relevant questions. Patients need to feel their comments / responses will make a difference.

The question was asked whether it was a requirement that a survey be undertaken. SD confirmed that it was. Following brief discussions it was felt that this was a tick box exercise for the Clinical Commissioning Group and the Patient Reference Group were not sure how much of a voice they actually had. They also all agreed the Clinical Commissioning Group had become too large.

AF provided some brief details of an organisation called Survey Monkey which other organisations had teamed up with to provide surveys. They collect and collate data. SD advised that it was unlikely that Survey Monkey would be used.

It is anticipated that the survey will start in September.

Any Other Business

Patient Reference Group Attendance

Concerns were raised regarding the fact the there appears to be some apathy with group members attending the Patient Reference Group meetings. There are approximately 47 registered members of the group but the same faces turn up to events.

CK said it was disappointing that when apologies were offered these had not been acknowledged at previous meetings. SD advised that this will not be the case going forward.

Discussions took place around attendance at Birmingham Cross City CCG patient representative group meeting. There were approximately 70 people in attendance representing the whole of Birmingham. It was felt that certain things had already been agreed before they were brought up on the agenda. The general feeling was that group members felt they were unlikely to attend future events.

MC provided an overview of his feelings about attending the Harlequin meetings. He raised the point that he did not know who anyone was and that initials were used to discuss various issues which he did not understand. He is unsure what the purpose of the Patient Representative Group is and what they hope to achieve.

SD pointed out that she was not aware MC was attending the meeting and that as he was late the meeting had commenced without him and he had missed the opening formalities where some of his concerns could have been addressed. MC advised that he had replied by e-mail to say he was attending but no trace of this can be found.

SD advised that Minutes of the previous meeting had been sent with the invite and agenda and this should provide some background to what the group were discussing and trying to achieve.

Patients Numbers for “Do Not Attend”

The question was asked whether the notice in the waiting room regarding patients who do not attend appointments has had any impact on these.

SD confirmed that number had not reduced drastically but that patients did find it interesting. She advised that patients who do not attend 2 appointments receive a letter advising them of the Practice policy and that if they miss another appointment they will be removed from the surgery listing. Some patients still do not attend and are surprised when they receive the notification that they are to be removed.

Patient Check in Screen in Waiting Room/Patient Call Display

The automatic check-in screen has not been working for a while now. SD explained the reason for this and advised that a solution is currently being sought. It is likely that a new system will be required which could cost approx £3000.

The benefits of a Patient Call Display system were discussed. SD advised that this type ofsystem would need to go through the clinical system and the cost of this is approximately £5000.

List of GPs Names and Room Numbers

It was suggested that it would be beneficial if patients could seen the names of GPs and their room numbers being displayed in the waiting room. SD will look into this.

Do Not Use Mobile Notices

Josie put these up following a previous meeting and this has reduced the number of people using phones in the waiting room.

Date of Next Meeting

SD asked attendees whether they would like the next meeting to be during the day or on the evening. It was agreed that this should be a day time meeting as moving to an evening had not boosted attendance.

CK advised that if the next meeting is to be held during the day she may be unable to attend due to work commitments. An offer was made to try and ensure the meeting was arranged when she was not working but this could not be guaranteed. This was appreciated.

SD will advise the date and time of next meeting shortly.

Harlequin Patient Representative GroupPage 1 of 4

Minutes – 25th June, 2013