Liberty Bridge Road Surgery Practice Group Meeting Minutes
12.03.15
Attendees
8 Patients; Dr Mike Jones (Lead GP); Zoe Williamson (Regional Manager); Lucy DogleyDarani (Reception Supervisor)
Agenda






Review of meeting minutes
Telephone System
Appointment System
Newsletter
Patient Survey
AOB
Review of last meeting minutes:
Nomination of chair

The Patient Group decided that staff at Liberty Bridge should chair the meeting for
now
Timing of meeting
 The Patient Group decided that they should be held every 2 months
 Mike Jones to send a Doodle pole out to members to determine the best time and
day to have these meetings.
 Suggestion that the meeting should be for example on the Third Thursday of every
other month so they are regular
 However should we alternate the day? Therefore maybe meeting to be in third
week of every other month
 Mike Jones to send a Doodle pole out to members to determine the best time and
day to have these meetings.
Telephone System








Has been an ongoing issue since the building opened
Patients complaining that phones don’t get answered or that it takes too long to be
answered
Zoe explained the issues of: no menu system on phone; currently all phone calls
come to reception; no queuing system
Discussion that has been going on for a long time and has not been resolved
Zoe explained that the Building Manager and CCG (clinical Commissioning Group) are
working together to resolve the issue. The GP service do not hold he telephone
contract. The contract is for the whole building.
It was requested that the Building Manger be present at the next meeting to discuss
such issues/concerns.
An additional reception has been recruited to help with the volume of phone calls
We are recruiting another part time receptionist in the coming weeks
Appointment System






Zoe presented the new appointment system that the surgery would like to trial from
April.
It would be a telephone triage system. Patients who need to be seen on the same
day will receive a phone call. If the GP feels they need to be seen then patients will
be invited in for an appointment. I
Mike Jones said that as a GP he can speak to more people on the one in one hour
than see face to face. It should improve access for patients in that way.
Mike Jones said we need to see if this works for this surgery.
Most people were in general agreement of trialling this system.
The reservation raised were:
If English is a second Language it may be more difficult
Not all patients can communicate over the telephone
The telephone system meant that it take a long time to get through
on the phone
Newsletter


Lucy had sent a template out by email to be checked
It was decided that Lucy should create a Newsletter and sent out to patients without
being checked by the patient group

It can be discussed at the next meeting and any amendments can be made for the
next newsletter
Patient Survey




The questions need to decided upon
Lucy to have done a survey by the next Patient Group Meeting
The Patient Group offered to come in to help push the survey
Need to make sure the questions are set appropriately so that a useful answer can
be obtained
AOB
Television

One member asked if it was possible to display information on the televisions rather
than news – Zoe to find out
Prescription




Some members raised concerns about the way prescriptions are processed – they
have been some delays.
Mike Jones said that weekly clinical meetings are now being held to improve
systems.
Mike Jones to train GPs on the new system
Reception team are now having weekly meetings to improve how systems work
Communication



Need to consider how we communicate Patient Group minutes to all members:
email, letter, in practice
Need to use Patient Group to help improve patient experience
Patient Group needs to be the Patient Group