MINUTES OF PATIENT GROUP MEETING HELD AT
WICKHAM MARKET MEDICAL CENTRE ON
TUESDAY 23rd September 2014
Present:
Gary Miller (Chair)
Bryan Hall
Margaret Holland
Diane Miles
Amanda Strowger
Georgie Webb
Mark Lal
Jane Wallace
Apologies:-, Malcolm Salter, Jane Pollock
Jill Hallett (Minutes)
Action
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The Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.
Actions from previous meeting:CCTV Leigh has obtained quotes for installation of a CCTV system. These
are under discussion .
DNAs – Information is being posted on the website. There were 301 apts
equating to 63 hours of clinician time. Writing to patients who persistently
DNA with the threat of removal from surgery list had been suggested. It
was agreed that this was a possibility – but Mark stated that often the serial
offenders had mental health issues. There was no alternative surgery locally
and therefore would have to remain with us. Georgie raised the issue of
charging/fining patients for non attendance. Mark confirmed that this was
not possible due to NHS legislation. It was suggested that a GP consortium
lobby for this to be possible in the future. It was agreed that a poster be
displayed in the waiting rooms bringing these figures to the patients’
attention highlighting the financial implications to the surgery.
DHG reminder system – costs of £50,000 + annual maintenance were
considered to be preclusive in the current financial circumstances. Gary said
he felt there may be a grant available and he would look into this.
GM
Waiting Room – Jane is speaking to a local photographer regarding a
collection of Suffolk scenes.
Call Board/Music – RPK will have one installed. IT are investigating the
PC issues as they would not maintain a system if it is connected to our own
pc. Jane confirmed that a licence is not needed for a radio.
Text Confirmations This is now working ok
Jane stated that the Patient Survey does not need to be run this year because
of the new Friends and Family DES. It was not felt a good idea to
overburden patients with multi questionnaires.
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The Friends and Family questions are “would you recommend the practice
to your friends and family?” “If you could change 1 thing to improve your
care what would it be”. It was felt that this info will be very helpful and
would be available to the PGM once collated. Every practice will have to do
this.
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Notes of the points raised by the interim PGM held on 21st August were
circulated.
The question of advising patients of any prolonged delay in their
appointment was raised. Diane had experienced a long delay and felt that
more information should have been given by the reception team. It was
agreed that ideally a message on the TV screen or an announcement in the
waiting room should be made whenever possible. An automatic notification
system when logging in on the touchscreen would also be investigated.
LE
Mark reported that the emergency clinic is working fairly well, although
some patients are abusing the system by just turning up without first
phoning to see if there were appointments available on the day. There is
soon to be a reception team meeting to discuss future changes in the way the
surgery would like the appointment system run.
The Nurse Practitioner appointments slots have been moved to help cover
the emergency clinic.
Telephone appointment protocols are also to be changed as a couple of the
GPs become overloaded with telephone requests. In future the patients will
be told a doctor will ring you back but it may not be today.
Available GP appointments at RPK have been increased apart from July and
September because of GP holidays and the clinical time being taken up by
the preparation of Care Plans . The extended hours at RPK are always full.
There are 3 Sat morning surgeries at WM and 1 at RPK per month. The on
line and automated booking systems are working well.
It is not possible to book nurses or phlebotomists on line as their surgeries
are more complex owing to the many different procedures they carry out.
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DHG – Mark reported that there were 2 options on the table. The PMS
GMC equates to a loss of £100,00 and no increase in funding for 6 years, or
a decrease gradually over a 4-5 year period. This is all being negotiated by
NHS England and the LMC. Suffolk is a very high performing area well
above the national average and therefore cheaper in the long run to the
government. NHS England have now stated they will not ratify any local
agreements so everyone is in a wait and see situation. Gary Miller stated he
has been putting forward a very strong case when meeting local MPs.
Mark stated that he thought it quite likely that some Ipswich surgeries will
close as they become less viable financially.
It was agreed that every area must be looked at to make efficient changes
that would help the financial situation.
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Jane confirmed that a lot of RPK patients are still not registered with the
surgery. Hopkins Homes are being given registration packs to put in their
new homes being built locally.
Dr. Sarah Trigg is leaving, a temporary GP has been appointed to cover her
hours whilst the financial situation of the surgery is still in flux. The
practice is already looking at next years GP rota bearing in mind the
potential increase in patient numbers.
Bryan stated that Health Watch were asking for feedback/input. This had
been discussed at the informal meeting. It was thought generally that
previous experience with differently named but basically the same type of
groups had not been worthwhile. A representative would be invited to the
next informal meeting, and their leaflets would be made available to patients
in the waiting rooms and included in the newsletter. It was felt generally
that patients should be contacting the surgery or Patient Group direct and
that there was no real need for a third party involvement.
The informal meeting had raised the question “Are there any issues with
present services, or gaps in what is offered by the surgery generally?” It was
reported that the CCG are in the process of renewing various contracts. It
was suggested that it would be helpful for a CCG representative to be
present at a future meeting.
Car Parking – Bryan reported that a meeting was being held with Suffolk
Coastal this evening. Their suggestion of solar powered ticketing machines
and only ½ hr free parking in future had not been received well. These
matters would be discussed at the meeting.
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The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 18th November at 10.00am