LOWER GORNAL MEDICAL PRACTICE
Minutes of Patients’ Panel Meeting - Monday 13th July 2015
Present: Christine Bate; Gill Browne; Donella Bullas; Liz Carrier; David Gill
(Chairman); Elaine Lloyd; Helen Newton; Gaynor Ormerod; Margaret Sargeant; Dr
Suleman; Gerald Wood.
Apologies: Julie Pitt.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes were accepted.
Matters Arising
The question was asked as to how the new Urgent Care system is working Mixed
reports have been received. A fair few patients have been diverted back to GPs. It
had been said that it was thought there would be a 40% reduction in patients when
the Walk In Centre closed.
Gaynor asked if the Stroke Prevention talk had been re-arranged but David advised
that there were no plans to at the moment.
Under Any Other Business at the last meeting new member Gill Browne asked for an
explanation of the purpose of the PPG. Dr. Suleman commented that the response,
as entered in the minutes, seemed highly summarised. He wished to confirm that the
Practice is at the core. The meeting did confirm that a more detailed explanation had
been given.
Membership
We are looking at using Social Media as part of our communication with patients.
One possibility is a Facebook page. A good example to look at is the page for Castle
Meadows. Theirs is mainly to do with the surgery however, rather than the PPG, but
we could have two pages running alongside each other. The page would host similar
information to the Practice website but comments would be able to be made. A
member of the Practice staff is to be asked into looking to set one up. We can also
receive a demo on setting up a Facebook page.
Dave had thought about setting up a PPG virtual membership page but now thinks
that using Facebook page might be a better option.
Dr. Suleman did comment that we would need to know how to deal with any
comments that were made and also ensure patient confidentiality. Boundaries would
need to be set.
A separate meeting will be held, purely to discuss this matter. This meeting will be on
Thursday, 10th September.
Reports
Meeting with Practice Manager
Chris and Dave have met with Lynn for an informal chat regarding various matters.
This included an update on the proposed move to new premises. The CCG has been
consulted and has approved the matter in principle. No particular site has been
chosen yet but 5 are being considered. A consultation process with patients is being
conducted by the practice.
Some of the history of the proposed move is as follows:
The Practice was approached by Castle Meadows as they have space issues. They
asked if we would consider sharing a building but remaining as two separate
practices. We cannot grow Bull Street. A company was appointed to look into the
matter and they made a presentation to the CCG.
Consultation forms have been given out to patients at reception. This has been done
on a random basis.
The Practice needs to look at what money is available by speaking to developers and
establishing a business plan.
There are three options.
The CCG is looking to develop Hubs in Dudley and we could become a hub. Under
this scheme there would be a District Hospital and then smaller satellite hospitals etc.
(Hubs). This is going back to the old 'hub & spoke' method. There would be a large
centre for physio, chiropody, ultra sounds, blood tests etc. with GPs in the same
building. The GPs object to this. Alternatively, there could be a hospital with smaller
investigation units, such as Brierley Hill, and then GP practices.
The third option is to be part of the LIFT Project, which Russells Hall was built under.
But this is not a good scheme and has not worked well for the hospital. Under the
LIFT Project the buildings are owned by an NHS property company and rented out
Rents are based on floor space. A service charge is also payable. These tend to go
up. This option would not be good for the Practice as half of the building is used by
Community Services which are managed differently, so their income would not help
pay the rent.
The preferred option is to rent premises.
Cut In Practice Funding
Due to the Practice losing monies over the next five years, as indicated in previous
meeting minutes, resources need to be looked into and where savings can be made.
The practice is seriously considering all aspects of the service it provides and what it
can continue to provide.
Gaynor asked if Saturday opening was being considered but it is not, partly due to
the already long working hours of the doctors.
People in medical training are not electing to become GPs so numbers coming
through are low. Chris reported that this was discussed at the CCG AGM. More
administration is meaning 50% of GPs time is spent on admin and when GPs are
retiring there are no replacements coming through.
There are 47 practices and they are looking at bringing them together.
There are some Advanced Nurse Practitioners but they are not doctors.
Training and recruiting of GPs is being looked at in Dudley.
Chris reported back from a meeting regarding mental health provision and that the
future is bright regarding mental health. A workshop was held to see what is going
wrong with current provision. There are not enough counsellors. The meeting asked
if GPs can refer to private counsellors. Dr. Suleman said that there were patients who
wouldn't or couldn't pay the going rate for counselling and he would recommend
‘Relate’ as they charge according to means. People have asked where to go to find
out information and the library is recommended.
Following a possible bid for a PPG grant from Dudley CCG it was looked into funding
health talks for the local community. As a result Dave and Geoff Davies have met
with Russell Tipson from Action Heart. They asked if he would look to speak at Zoar
regarding the work of Action Heart and how patients can remain fit and able. This
looks set to go ahead and would most likely be on a Wednesday or Thursday
afternoon.
On 17th September there is a Health Care Forum from 4.30pm to 6.30pm at Brierley
Hill Civic Hall. There will be a talk around a theme. You can e-mail David Gill for
more information.
In our area the Ambulance Service is no longer providing the NHS 111 service. This
is being run by West Midlands Doctors. This organisation has stepped in until a new
service provider is appointed.
Any Other Business
It was asked if patients, surgeries and GPs have benefited from the changes over the
past 18 months, specifically from changing from a PCT to a CCG. It is hard to say as
only complaints tend to be heard. The online appointment and prescription services
are going well. The new urgent care system is good.
Charging for missed appointments was bought up but it would be hard to administer
and there were questions over who would collect the money.
The sometimes long wait patients can experience in the waiting room was brought
up. It was asked how the situation was handled as a patient commented recently
that, as instructed, he approached reception after waiting 15 minutes past his
appointment time but was just told that the doctor was 'running late'. A discussion on
this was deferred to the next meeting as it is an important matter.
Date of Next Meetings
Monday 19th October (to discuss social media options) and Monday 23rd November
2015.