Sandhurst & Owlsmoor Patient Focus Group Meeting

SANDHURST & OWLSMOOR PATIENT FOCUS GROUP MEETING

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 12TH MARCH 2013

Present:Kishor ShresthaAndrew McMenemy

Mike BlackmanDavid Bryant

Helen BergerJulia Spencer Jones

Christine JenkinsSue Brooks

Colleen PidgeonAudrey Shephard

Apologies:Sarah NewellChristine Jenkins

Ray EdwardsSue Brooks

Sylvia LeppardVal Codd

Krevan MoodleyChristine Stokes

Roger Halliwell Vera Routledge

2.MATTERS ARISING

(Andrew) - Phone Number – new telephone system is being installed this week, patients are able to call in on the numbers now, but will still reach via old number for another 6 weeks. Telephone number for Sandhurst - 01252 877322, Owlsmoor number 01344 751184. Advertising of the number will be via newsletters and on the surgery website. Suggestion made of notices in the chemists and library. Posters are ready SRA with a June edition deadline of 2nd May. Andrew will contact them direct.

Problems relating to Owlsmoor surgery and anti-social behaviour (Audrey) - Dave Wary, ASB Officer, met with caretaker for update. Discussed having the mosquito system but will wait to see what progress the police have made with the problem. There are 5 members who are causing the core problem and who have been given an Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC). Part of this is to not intimidate or to gather in groups of more than 2. If the surgery has a problem they are to let the community officer know to decide what action to take.

Awareness Days (Julia) – No smoking day; a stand was presented at Sandhurst (12/3/13). It had been noted that there are a large number of leaflets in holders, and also some on the tables, as well as posters around the surgery. As they are not in any order it must be confusing to the patient and information could be hard to find. Suggestion made that posters and leaflets could be categorised and perhaps put behind perspex. The HSE has suggested that the fewer the posters the more they will be noticed. A stand with staggered shelves is for sale at a shop that is closing down and could be an option to display leaflets

3.BUSINESS: (SYLVIA AND DAVID)

a)New patient Registration forms – If the focus group could get a good database of email addresses then the surgery could utilise it also, the telephone update is an example, as well as ourselves. It has a potential for education and to gain more cooperation from patients. David has contacted some local surgeries to see what use is made by them of email addresses. Binfield has more than 6000, collected over the last 11 years, and they are used by the practice for information as well as for conducting surveys. Yateley has collected 500 in a year, partly by encouraging existing patients to give their details, as well as by asking new patients to do so when registering. They are used as a management tool, for instance to inform patients about arrangements for ‘flu jabs, as well as for surveys. Three other practices do not collect or use e-mail addresses.

b)We could speed up compiling our data-base if new patients were asked to leave their email address, with their other personal details, when registering with the practice and if these could be passed to the Focus Group. It would be important to explain fully why we are collecting this information, who will be holding it, and how it will be used. If we are to do this the current patient registration forms will need to be redrafted. ***Helen will look into this and send a copy to Andrew. In addition, when patients collect repeat prescriptions they could be given a short account of the Focus Group and a request to enrol with us.

Contact details for S&OPFG.

c)Andrew pointed out that our contact details on the practice web-site would need to be changed and that greater use could be made of this facility for recruiting.

d)Relevance of the Group and its future.

It was agreed that our main objectives remain to seek patient opinion and to promote health awareness, but that if we are to be more effective we need to increase our ability to contact patients. Also, that representation of a cross section of the community is needed and that this should include the Nepali community. It was suggested that a dedicated page on the web-site could be translated for the Nepali people to inform them of the services that the surgery offers, and this should include a telephone number of a Nepali community worker or translator. The arrangements for providing information about the services to those Nepalis who do not have access to a computer need to be reviewed. (Action…Kishor is to meet with Andrew in relation to this).

Now that PPGs are becoming part of the fabric of general practice the use of social media can enable us to contact patients more widely. It was decided to have both Facebook and Twitter accounts

** Helen will set these up and will advertise both the telephone number changes and the Drug-misuse presentation (twitter and Facebook

e)GP representation – Sylvia made it clear that we need more GP involvement in the Group to help build the relationship between patients and the practice. Andrew informed us that another of the GPs will attend our meetings after Colleen has left but this is still to be confirmed. From the surgery perspective, the Focus Group could help the surgery by finding out more about the ‘signposting’ of available services for patients and, for instance, what makes them use A&E instead of the Out of Hours Service?

4. FITNESS FUN DAY MEETING (Audrey))

1st June 2013 – Originally set up by Sandhurst Town Council and the practice but now much

more led by the former. John Thing feels that more doctors need to be present. There is a

need to provide 2 Senior Cups, 2 Junior and 2 Salvers at an approximate cost of £80. It is

hoped that the practice will provide these again this year. The date used, the first Saturday in June, falls at half-term but this cannot be changed because of the pressure on the use of

these facilities and we have to accept that this will lead to a smaller attendance.

5. DRUG PRESENTATION BY ELIZABETH BURTON-PHILLIPS AND GAIL PITTS

20thMarch – Sandhurst School. 7pm (come early to buy your book) – only 38 seats booked so far so more publicity is needed. Posters have been printed free by a local printer, Abacus, and placed on notice boards and in the library by Audrey and Vera. Andrew will email the poster to the 500 emails on the sub group data-base. The Camberley News have given publicity to the event and will also cover the talk with photos beforehand. Books will be available to buy at £10. All parents will have received a newsletter with notice of the talk event on the front page.

6.HEALTH INFORMATION

In regards to the correspondence re: Leg ulcers and district nursing. A letter was sent to Dr William Tong but we were told it was not received; also sent by Email twice but without response. The letter was copied to Julie West who replied that she had spoken to the nursing team head and only 2 patients were considered vulnerable. Julie West and Theresa Eckley would be happy to come along to talk to us about their criteria for this decision. Discussions are in progress on how district nursing arrangements will change within the area in April.

Sylvia to invite local Alzheimer Society to the May meeting, Julie West / Theresa Eckley for July and William Tong September.

1. GOODBYE TO COLEEN

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Dr Coleen Pidgeon as she embarks on her retirement. We would like to thank her for all her hard work and dedication to the Focus Group. Best wishes for a fulfilling retirement.

1. NEXT MEETING

Wednesday 22nd May 2013 at Owlsmoor Surgery