Knebworth and Marymead Medical Practice PPG Report - April 2013 to March
2014
Introduction
The Patient Participation Group, which was formed in December 2011, has now become fully
established. It holds regular monthly meetings to which all are invited, supplemented by more
frequent, usually weekly, meetings of a smaller group working on projects to report back to the full
PPG. The group also produces a monthly newsletter which, together with the Minutes of both types of
meetings, goes on to the PPG section of the Practice website. Prior to his leaving in June 2013, Nigel
Sweeney, the Practice Manager, helped create and encourage the group to its current size and
activity. Ken Spooner was appointed Practice Manager in February 2014 and takes a very active
interest in encouraging all the PPG actions.
Patient Locality Group Sessions
Members from the PPG have attended, usually Justin Jewitt, Tony Burkitt, Graham Fothergill and
Sandra Butler, have attended whenever such meetings have been held during the year. These
meetings are organised by the CCG for the North Herts Locality Group (12 practices) and are a
chance to network with other PPG members, hear from the CCG and debate various issues and
healthcare topics.
Patient Network (Quality) Meetings
Justin Jewitt has been nominated to be Chairman of this CCG Group Meeting which was formed in
January 2013. Since then there have been 12 meetings, usually on a monthly basis, which have
tracked the full CCG Quality Meetings, allowing representatives from the six Locality Groups to meet
together to hear what the CCG Quality Committee has been dealing with, and to be responsible for
feedback from the meeting to the Locality Groups and PPGs, and also to feed upwards the feeling of
the members that they represent.
CCG Quality Group Meetings
Justin Jewitt has also been appointed as a patient representative on the CCG Quality Committee and
has attended almost all of the monthly meetings since it's inception in November 2012. The Quality
Committee receives reports on the quality of care from every major healthcare provider commissioned
by the East and North Herts CCG, this includes ENHertsNHS Trust, Princess Alexandra Hospital
Trust in Harlow as well as Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust, Herts Community Trust and several
other providers.
Other Ad Hoc CCG Meetings
Various patient representatives from the PPG have attended a number of meetings organised by the
CCG. Attendees at Strategic Communication Days, the Big Top PPG event and at training
programmes to become patient champions or leaders have included Jan Burt, Mandy Preedy, Tony
Burkitt and Justin Jewitt.
Assistive Technologies
Tony Burkitt is a regular attendee at meetings of the East of England Assistive Technology Group with
particular reference to our Telehealth project and other similar programmes that are being developed
for primary care.
Practice and Surgery Activities
The PPG members produce and distribute a newsletter every month. The principal purpose of the
newsletter is to try and open up communication to all the 12,000 patients about happenings in the
surgery, the healthcare locality and also in the wider NHS.
The Partners take a very active interest in the PPG meetings and the activities of the group. Currently,
Dr Rahul Shah chairs the monthly PPG meetings and often attends the weekly working group
meeting. Dr Eckhart Loeffler is also a frequent attendee at the monthly meetings and Dr Katherine
McManus takes a keen interest in all activities.
The PPG has held meetings with the receptionists at both surgeries in order to discuss ways to
improve the relationship between the Practice staff and the patients. In these very constructive
meetings, some long term aims have been established relating to reducing the number of unfilled
appointments, access for female patients to female doctor appointments and other improvements to
the availability of appointments.
Use of website, especially for on-line appointment bookings, is a key action for the Practice going
forward and is strongly supported by the PPG. The use of the Internet is becoming more common in
everyday life and so it is becoming very important for all patients, who are able to do so, to make use
of timely and interesting healthcare information that is being loaded on to the Practice website. This
doesn't mean that non-computer users will be ignored, copies of most information will be made
available at the reception in each surgery. If you haven't already done so, please contact reception to
confirm your email address and make sure that it has been registered so that you can be emailed
directly by the surgery. Our aim in 2014/15 is to for 80% of all patients to receive the PPG newsletter
and other Practice and NHS news (vaccinations etc ) via their personal email.
Within the surgery, there has been a lot of positive change as a result of many PPG collaborative
actions. The noticeboards have been tidied up and kept more up to date and the surgeries
themselves have been encouraged to be tidier around the waiting areas. Unfortunately, we still have a
considerable number non-cancelled appointments (termed DNAs, ie Did Not Attend). That means the
appointment time has been wasted and isn't available for a sick patient to benefit from it. During
2014/15 It is proposed to study how best to address this waste in a positive and effective manner.
Also the Practice plans to telephone-triage more incoming calls to ensure that patients are seen by
the appropriate clinician on their arrival at the surgery, and to make effective use of the highly trained
prescribing nurses at both surgeries. The development of new surgery facilities at Knebworth has
been delayed due to location and planning issues; updates on its progress will appear in future PPG
newsletters.
Bereavement Pamphlet
Sandra Butler, on behalf of the PPG, has authored and produced a very useful booklet on the
practical knowledge and support that is necessary at the time of bereavement following the death of
someone close to you. This should soon be available on the website and, in the meantime, printed
copies may be obtained from the surgeries when needed by individual patients.
Sandra is currently working on a similar document for Palliative Care.
Carers Groups
During the year, the charity group Crossroads Care, gave a talk at one of the PPG meeting about the
respite care service that is available for all residents in Hertfordshire.
During October, members of Carers in Herts attended the flu vaccination clinics to spread the good
news about the services available to all our patients through their organisation. They also assisted us
by handing out recruitment forms to encourage more patients to participate in the PPG.
Telehealth Project
This finally achieved lift-off in January 2014 for the benefit of 51 patients in their own homes. The
project concept was first discussed way back October 2012 and has taken some while to get the fine
details and the necessary funding inplace. Cardiocom are the organisation that have supplied the
hardware comprising pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs and the electronic command modules
have been supplied by Cardiocom. These enable the results of every completed test in the home to
be received and reviewed by expert clinicians at the Herts Urgent Care Centre in Welwyn Garden
City. Tony Burkitt has been leading this project on behalf of the PPG since its inception and was
responsible for organising the team of volunteers who helped install the service into every patient’s
home. Thanks go to Sandra Butler, Tony Burkitt, Tony Stowe, David Andrews, Justin Jewitt and the
Cardiocom team for getting the service up and running and also to Dr Shah and his nurses for
providing such excellent clinical care. This is a four- month project and updates will be provided in
each newsletter. The initial feedback from patients has been excellent, the service is very well
received and is helping patients to manage their conditions in a better way.
Patient Data
The possible release by the NHS of patient data for third party use has been a significant concern at
several PPG meetings during the year. It has been actively debated by the group and we support the
government’s concern about the poor communication of the programme and we will encourage all
patients in the Practice to have an opinion on whether to contract in or out.
PPG Membership and Recruitment
At present, the PPG has a core membership of about a dozen patients. Following a recruitment
campaign towards the end of 2013, a further 14 or so patients have come forward to show interest in
joining the group. All membes are encouraged to attend any of the monthly or weekly meetings, and
additional efforts are now being made to reactivate the interest of some former PPG members who
have not been able to attend due to work or other issues. Copies of recent meeting Minutes and of
the current newsletter have been sent to all potential and actual PPG attendees.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Preparation
We know that every practice in the country will be inspected by the regulator, CQC, and we are
therefore preparing to support our own Practice in this eventuality. When they arrive at the surgery,
the inspection team will be very interested to hear from any patient and we believe that it is
appropriate to be honest and open for the benefit of all patients. We have a positive story to tell, whilst
being realistic about current concerns such as the availability of appointments and the access to
doctors.
The National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP)
NAPP is a national body that offers advice and support to PPGs throughout the country. We are
considering joining this organisation in order to take advantage of their experience and sharing the
good ideas on how to organise and support such patient groups. .
Complaints and Compliments Process
The PPG is not the correct pathway for anyone wanting to make a personal complaint about their
local surgery or about the Practice as a whole. We are, however, committed to helping to improve the
facilities and services through debate, discussion and action.
Please check the Practice website for the latest route for any compliment or complaint. By following
the procedure, it will help the Practice to respond to every situation and learn from any complaint for
the benefit of the whole patient population.