MINUTES OF THE SMITHY SURGERY PPG MEETING
28th November 2013, 5.30PM
Attendees:
Mai Spencer (Chair); Geraldine Haughton (Secretary); Kay Phillips; Mary Fitton; David
Collins; Iris Richards
1. Apologies:
Andrew Eyre, Jeffrey Barlow, Barrie Adams and Wendy Harrison.
2. Minutes from the Meeting Held on 31st October 2013
The minutes from the meeting held on the 31st October were agreed as a true and
correct record.
Matters Arising
Item 3 – Adolescent Health
Action: Mai to follow up.
3. Pharmacy Presentation
Tony (Pharmacist from the Co-Op Hollingworth) was welcomed to the meeting.
Tony began by giving an outline of his qualifications; 3 year for degree, 1 year
masters, 1 year on the job experience shadowing a qualified pharmacist, they then
make the decision if student competent enough, at the end of this time they sit an
exam in two parts (open book – can take reference books into and closed, no books
allowed).
The General Pharmacy Council is the governing body who regularly inspect, check
protocols and standards; they can close down pharmacy if not happy. From a local
perspective the pharmacy area team from the CCG keep a watching brief.
Hollingworth mostly dispense NHS prescriptions, with a small number of private. They
offer a wide range of free services:
 Repeat prescriptions – can order patients from surgery and dispense ready for
pick up
 Prescription delivery service – 1.00 – 6.00 (Mon – Fri)
 Monitoring Dosage Systems (MDS) for carer/guardian. This is a 4 weekly cycle
of medicines and packed into a weekly/daily/time of the day ie morning, mid
morning etc. especially good for elderly/confused patients. This service
receives good feedback from service users and carers. Quite labour
intensive.
 Minor ailment scheme – conditions treated under this scheme are: nasal
congestion, fever/temperature, hay fever, cough, headache, head lice, sore
throat, vaginal thrush, TineaPedis (athlete’s foot) and threadworm. This is
funded by the Tameside and Glossop CCG enabling easy access for patients
to healthcare professional – without having to make an appointment with a
GP. Prescriptions are issued and if patient exempt from payment there is no
charge, otherwise normal cost applies
 Over the counter treatments/medicines
 Smoking cessation service – TMBC fund 2 advisors. Patients are offered weekly
1:1 sessions with advisors, offered nicotine replacement products/carbon
monoxide tests to see if working. Ten people currently using scheme. The
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pharmacy have successfully helped 20 people this year. Definition of ‘quit’ –
not smoked for a 4 week period
Disposal of unwanted medication – part of the contract pharmacies are
obliged to dispose of unused medicines. They are sent on a bi-monthly basis
to a central location to get incinerated. Group surprised at the amount of
medicines returned to pharmacy – a lively discussion around re-using and
sending to meds to 3rd World countries – the law has changed and
pharmacies can’t guarantee that medicines have not been interfered with so
must be destroyed
Blood pressure testing – no need for an appointment, patients use for peace
of mind mainly. Pharmacy have access to patients medication list, record
results and if elevated refer to GP
Medicine use review (MUR) – pharmacist meets with patient to look at
medicines currently taking. Making sure patient understands how to take and
if any side effects are suffered. Offer health and wellbeing advice around
weight control, smoking and alcohol use. Anything major is flagged up with
GP
New medicines service (NMS) – this is offered to 4 patient groups:
hypertension, diabetes, COPD and asthma, looking at side effects, pharmacy
contact patient to see how they are getting on with new meds and offer
advice (7-10 days after starting new drug). Kay felt this was a good service
however, patient needs to be in contact with the surgery if experiencing any
side effects
Flu service; both NHS and private – no appointment needed. Originally only
offered to private patients at £9.00 (£8.00 to co-op members). Smithy
planning do carry out more flu sessions for patients. The group discussed the
pro’s and con’s of both the pharmacy and surgery offering service, the Smithy
only orders enough to cover cohort offered to and is adjusted very carefully
to avoid waste, could have a negative impact if order too much. Tony said
he envisaged a very few turning up at the pharmacy for this service
Emergency hormonal contraception (morning after pill) – this service is funded
by TMBC, pharmacy currently training all staff to issue drugs which can be
taken up to 3 days after. Consultation is taken place in private and there are
strict protocols around under 16s. The UK has the highest teenage unwanted
pregnancy rates and with the pharmacy being open longer hours this is a
valuable service that compliments the surgery and family planning clinics.
Information offered around family planning and STIs
Private Service offered:
 Weight management – the Lipotrim diet is being offered to patients with a BMI
of 30 and over. This is a very strict diet consisting of meal replacement drinks,
equating to 500 calories a day this encourages the body to eat its own fat.
Currently 3 female and 2 male clients using service, they can only have liquids
water/tea with no milk. Once met target can be offered a maintenance
programme where clients are introduced to normal meals. The pharmacy
screen clients prior to acceptance onto diet, the cost is £36 for females and
£48 for males
4. CCG Governing Board Feedback
On agenda for next meeting when Sharon will be present.
5. PPG Notice Board & Newsletter
Everyone agreed that the notice board was looking professional and up to date,
thanks to Mary. Mary agreed to do a précis of the pharmacy presentation for the
notice board.
The newsletter was agreed, again well done Mary and Barry, for an excellent
publication.
6. Patient Survey
Kay briefed the group about new rules regarding any qualified provider (AQP). Some
of the surgery’s services could be put to tender, resulting in (say pain relief injections)
being carried out at another site, scenario for patients could be multiple
appointments at various sites for a ‘simple’ problem. This is due to come into effect
from April 2014. Kay unsure about criteria, but would ask Simon for the next meeting.
Action: Kay to talk to Simon around AQP criteria.
7. Any Other Business
School Project – the head teacher gave presentation at assembly with a closing
date of today. No entries were received. The group agreed that we need to look at
what the prize is to be.
Action: Mai to talk to Head Teacher.
Action: On agenda for December meeting.
8. Future Planning
 AGM and Annual Report – December
 CQC Guide for PPGs - January
9.
Date of Future Meetings
19/12 – early for Christmas
2014
30/01
27/02
27/03
24/04
29/05
26/06
31/07
28/08
25/09
30/10
27/11
18/12 – early for Christmas