THE COTTONS PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP
MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD AT 6.00 P.M. IN THE COTTONS MEDICAL CENTRE
ON 21ST APRIL, 2015
Present: Sharon Donnelly (SD) Chairperson, Helen Boto (HB),
Richard Denham (RD), Janet Harper (JH), Lynette Mura (LM), Michael Pratt
(MP), Lynn O’Shea (LO), Pat Harrison (PH)
1. SD welcomed those present to the Annual General Meeting of the
Cottons PPG.
2. Apologies were received from: Julian Crowe (Practice Manager),
Michelle Garratt (Office Manager), John Fryatt, Veronica Howes, Denis
McKetty, Gwendoline Cooper, Conrad Cooper, Norma Davis, George
Westcott, Janet Baker
Belated apologies were received from: Eileen Plowe, Elizabeth Mitchell,
Steve Westwood, Roger Martin
3. The Minutes of the last AGM on 22nd April, 2014 were approved.
4. Election of New Officers
SD reported that at the last PPG meeting in March it had been agreed that
election of officers for the position of Chairperson, Secretary and
Treasurer would take place at the AGM. At the March meeting SD had
requested that anybody who wished to be considered for these positions
should contact her and submit their names before the AGM. No names
had been put forward and she therefore proposed that she should
continue in the role of Chairperson, Janet Harper (JH) should assume the
role of Secretary and Helen Boto (HB) should take on the position of
Treasurer. A show of hands indicated acceptance of these proposals.
5. Report from the Chair
SD wished to express the PPG’s thanks to the Practice Manager for his
contribution over the past year. He had been cooperative, open and
transparent regarding developments and proposed changes and had
made himself available at all times for consultation.
Thanks were due to Mr. George Westcott who had helped with advice on
Health and Safety issues prior to the CQC inspection.
SD had also personally undertaken to generally make a few improvements
to the look of the waiting area.
The CQC inspection had taken place in October 2014 and in their
subsequent report they had awarded the Practice five ‘Good’ ratings and
identified one area as ‘Outstanding’.
Another encouraging development had been that the Practice Manager
had had a meeting that afternoon with Tracey Angus, Locality Business
Support Manager of the Clinical Commission Group (CCG), who had
looked at the Practice Website and been impressed with the PPG, it’s
composition and achievements. Ms. Angus had been invited to attend the
June meeting of the Cottons PPG and we are awaiting her confirmation.
LM commented that it would be most interesting to have Ms. Angus at
the meeting as she would have knowledge as to how the funding system
is currently implemented.
SD reported that over the past year the PPG had produced four
newsletters which had received a good response from patients. The
intention had been to draw attention to forthcoming clinics and general
changes in the health system as well as specific changes relating to the
Cottons Practice. We had actually highlighted the problem of prescription
Exemption Certificates which allow people with five specific ongoing
conditions to obtain prescriptions free, and the fact that these certificates
had to be renewed every five years or fines were imposed, before there
had been a campaign in the media to bring this to the attention of
patients.
The PPG had undertaken a Survey in 2014 and 419 had been completed
which was a significant improvement on 224 in the previous year.
The PPG had grown in numbers from single figures to ninety members,
some of whom were Participating members and some of whom were
Virtual members who were unable to attend meetings owing to health,
family commitments, work etc. but who wished to be kept informed and
their opinions sought on proposals and improvements to the Practice.
In all, during the year, forty-five improvements had been put forward by
the PPG which had been considered and forty-four implemented.
HB had been influential in helping with grants and money obtained from
East Northants Council had been used for the purchase of toys for the
children’s area, easy chairs for elderly or disabled patients and also a
leaflet display stand. Magazines were also supplied on a monthly basis
and then, when obsolete, offered for sale at a cost of 50p, which was
donated to charity.
LM had suggested that our PPG applied for the National Association for
Patient Participation Corkill Award. This was an amount of £500 made
available to the successful PPG to spend as they wished for the benefit of
the patients in their Practice. The closing date for applications was 20th
April, 2015, and we had submitted the relevant forms, hopefully in
compliance with the specified criteria.
Finally SD asked the Meeting to agree the updated Terms of Reference
which had been circulated prior to the meeting. The main change was
that the number of members constituting a quorum had been reduced
from twelve to six. This was felt to be a more reasonable number who
could be expected to attend meetings taking into account holiday periods
and winter times when illness was more prevalent. The meeting agreed
the updated terms and the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer signed
the new Terms of Reference.
6. Any Other Business
As there were no other points for discussion the meeting finished at 6.50
p.m.
Please note: Meetings are recorded solely for the purpose of gaining
accurate Minutes.
Date of next PPG Meeting: Tuesday 9th June, 2015 at 6.00 p.m. in the
Meeting Room at the Cottons Medical Centre.