DAVENAL HOUSE SURGERY PARTNERSHIP
PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP MEETING
Tuesday 23rd June 2015, 6.30pm, Stoke Prior Surgery
Present:
Patient Participation Group Members
Libby D’Arcy, Davenal House Surgery Partnership
Dr Marion Radcliffe, Davenal House Surgery Partnership
Kate Smith, Davenal House Surgery Partnership
Welcome & Introductions
Dr Radcliffe welcomed everyone to the second Patient Participation Group meeting.
Patient Feedback
Dr Radcliffe discussed patient feedback including the Friends and Family test and the National GP
Patient Survey. Unfortunately there have been some difficulties in encouraging patients to complete
the Friends and Family test as many do not actually come into the surgery which reduces the
opportunity for them to complete the paper forms available in surgery. Dr Radcliffe asked members
for suggestions on ways increase the response rate. Members suggested that at the end of telephone
consultations clinicians direct patients to the website or patients are able to complete via an
automated telephone survey at the end of the telephone call. It was agreed the possibility of
introducing an automated telephone survey would be further investigated. It was also suggested
that IT tablets are installed in the waiting room or utilising the automated check in system to include
the Friends and Family test. It was unknown how many patients use the automated check-in service
and it was agreed to investigate this. Members suggested that the boxes for paper responses are
made more attractive and moved to a more prominent site in the waiting rooms and more of a
display is made of the survey within the practice.
The results from the National GP Patient Survey which is sent out by the Department of Health were
circulated. Dr Radcliffe commented that the number of surveys sent out is very small in comparison
to the number of registered patients within the practice. Some of the scores from the survey are
published on NHS choices website; Overall Satisfaction was 75%; Recommending someone to the
surgery who was new to the area was 65%. One member commented that he had never been asked
to recommend a GP, however, other members upon moving into the area had asked members of the
community which GP they would recommend. It was agreed that the results of the survey would be
emailed with the minutes for attendees to review further. Dr Radcliffe asked members to pay
particular attention to why they felt the score on recommending the surgery was low. Members
commented that it could be that patients didn’t want to recommend the surgery as they didn’t want
the surgery to become overcrowded with patients. It was felt that in general patients were more
likely to recommend a consultant rather than a GP. A discussion was held regarding the new
government initiative where upon surgeries can have patients registered outside their practice area.
Dr Radcliffe explained that these patients would have to agree to not having any home care from the
GP surgery they were registered with and that home care would have to be provided by the local oncall surgery, which could mean in a lack of continuity of care.
The other score published on NHS choices is if patients are satisfied with the opening hours. Patients
had scored that they wish the surgery to be open for longer. Dr Radcliffe explained that Davenal
House is the only surgery in the area which offers extended hours; 7.30am – 7.30pm on Thursdays
and two Saturday mornings a month. However, we scored lower that other practices in the area. It
was thought that maybe this was the feeling of Stoke Prior patients, Dr Radcliffe pointed out that the
Stoke Prior surgery which is our branch surgery is open more than the other local practices branch
surgeries. Members suggested a mailshot is sent out to all patients to highlight this to them. Dr
Radcliffe commented that the practice receives only £69.00 per year for each patient and therefore
there was a limit to the amount of funding available. Members suggested that the spare page of the
prescriptions is used as a marketing tool to promote the services available to patients. One member
asked if we knew the demographic of the working hours of our patients so that we could amend our
opening hours. Dr Radcliffe commented that an audit of the use of the extended hours showed that
65% of working patients used these appointments and there was no correlation with the late
evenings and Saturday mornings being used by working patients and were often utilised by retired
patients. One member asked if patients could be asked what the appointment was for and another
member confirmed that this was already done by the receptionists.
One member asked how many patients were dealt with via the phone and Dr Radcliffe confirmed that
two thirds of our patients are telephone consultations.
Progress report on previously agreed key priority areas 2014/15
1. Improved patient knowledge of services available and ways of accessing these.
Following on from the last meeting and the agreement of this key priority area a new leaflet was
produced which was circulated.
2. Improved access to services within the practice
A new telephone system has been installed at Davenal House and will shortly be installed at Stoke
Prior. Kate Smith commented that following discussions as the last meeting the number of
options was kept to a minimum to help improve the patient experience of calling the practice. It
was agreed that the possibility of more tiers within each option would be investigated which
would help patients access the different services and would also free up receptionists to deal with
patients in surgery. The new phone system at Stoke Prior will be linked to Davenal House so
patients will be able to be transferred between surgeries and not need to redial.
3. Increase the age mix of the PPG population
Following on from the last meeting copies of the How to Join the Patient Participation Group
leaflet had been distributed amongst the care homes in effort to recruit a wider mix of patients. It
was noted that these patients would probably only be virtual members. The leaflet is also
included in all letters inviting parents to bring their children for their second set of vaccinations in
an effort to enrol younger patients. It was agreed that attendees would encourage younger family
members of the family or friends to join the group.
One member expressed frustration in having to share the papers which had been circulated at the
meeting and after further discussion it was identified that there had been a communication issue with
the email system. It was agreed that a separate email account would be used in the future to
communicate with the Patient Participation Group and that reminders and where possible papers
would be sent out prior to any meetings.
Recent Developments
Dr Radcliffe highlighted recent developments within the practice. The Bromsgrove district surgeries
had recently formed a Bromsgrove Primary Care Network. This group will be providing medical input
into the Princess of Wales Hospital. We will be recruiting an additional doctor in order to cope with
the additional workload. It is hoped that this will maintain the high standard of medical care patients
receive. One member asked about succession planning amongst the GPs and Dr Radcliffe commented
that these initiatives encourage doctors to join the practice due to the variation of inpatient and
community work. One member highlighted the role of Physician Assistants, training takes three years
and it is hoped that these will be introduced in Bromsgrove in the future. Dr Smith has recently been
presented with an award from the Royal College of Physicians for her work in education and Dr
Radcliffe is now on the board of the local Clinical Commissioning Group.
Future Priority Areas
It was agreed that communication and marketing should be the main priority areas. Including:

Investigating the possibility of installing a TV screen in Reception to market the various services
within the practice.

Investigating joint marketing with other practices in the area including approaches builders to
include information in their new build literature and advertising in the local parish newsletter.

Reducing the amount of information on the practice noticeboards and making them more practice
only focussed.

Introducing marketing promotion for practice services utilising the prescription slips
One member kindly offered help in the future with regards to publishing/promotional material.
Another member asked about sending clinical information into the practice as they had been
informed that the practice was unable to receive emails. Dr Radcliffe confirmed that clinical
information such as hospital letters can be emailed to the Davenal House generic email
davenal.house@nhs.net and it was agreed that this would be confirmed to all staff.
Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group membership scheme for patients and
public
A representative from the group gave a brief introduction into the Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical
Commissioning Group membership scheme for patients and public. There are three types of
membership:

Level one members receive surveys, newsletters and information on the NHS locally.


Level two members as level one members plus opportunities to attend CCG public meetings,
forums and focus groups.
Level three members as level one and two members plus the opportunity to be involved in the
planning, purchasing and monitoring of health services.
The group is also working on involving younger members of the community and looking at working
with the education system to increase knowledge on health. Judy circulated an information leaflet on
the scheme which is also on display within the practice. There is currently availability to join as level
one or level two members.