HINGHAM SURGERY PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP
Minutes Of The Meeting Held On Tuesday, 11th February 2014
At Hingham Surgery At 2pm.
Present: Eileen Davis, Corah Carney, Frank Davis, Ann Denman, Malcolm Southgate, Jan
Southgate, Linda Langridge, Sue Bell, Derek Ullmann, Geoffrey Young, Jace Halstead (Staff), Dr
Shaun Conway (Staff).
1.
Welcome & Apologies
Eileen Davis, Chair, welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from
Iris Keyes, Judy Trollope, David Trollope, Nicola Cogman (Staff). Eileen told the meeting that Jack
Dawson had resigned from the PPG due to ill-health. PPG members wished him well and ED to
send a card.
2.
Minutes Of The Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting on 10th December 2013 were reviewed and agreed.
3.
Matters Arising
a)
Carers Group:
Ann reported that the Carer’s Support Group is going well and continue to meet on the first Tuesday
of the month at the Surgery. About 8 people attend and they seem to find it very helpful to meet up
with other Carers. Ann asked if any PPG member would be willing to assist with the group as an
extra person would be helpful. Geoffrey and Sue both volunteered and will liaise with Ann.
b)
Fundraising Proposals:
Eileen told the group of the recent fundraising activities.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
There is now a ‘thermometer’ showing the current funds raised towards the patient selftesting blood pressure machine. Funds currently stand at £250 towards the target of £2,000.
There are new bookshelves in the front porch. Thanks were given to Frank Davis for making
these.
There are now CDs also for sale at £1 each. (Derek is happy to maintain the books and the
shelves).
The cards for sale by Ken Miller are now also on display. Orders can be placed in the box
which will be checked regularly.
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4.
NHS England
Eileen showed the PPG a leaflet that has been delivered to each household from NHS England
informing patients about their data. Jace explained that anonymised data would be extracted from
the Surgery every month by the NHS which will be used for health planning and research. Patients
can opt out if they wish via the Surgery web-site or via a form which is available from the Surgery.
The Surgery advise that patients should read the leaflet and make their own decision.
A small discussion followed on an article that had been in the press recently about how insurance
companies could potentially use this data for their own benefits. Dr Conway said this would
technically be possible as date of births and postcodes would be part of the data supplied but in
reality, would be illegal to take data for something other than is intended. He reiterated that patients
were free to make their own choice.
5.
Health Promotion Boards
a)
Eileen said that the health promotion boards about weight management were now being
displayed in the Nurses waiting area. Jace told that Alex had made some cards and there is a link
to a web-site that offers a 12-week supported programme for weight loss.
b)
It was suggested that March would be a good time to run a smoking cessation campaign as
it is National No Smoking Day in March. Dr Conway and Jace told that the smoking cessation
services at Hingham Surgery were:
o
o
o
6.
Level 1 – Advice from Nurse / GP
Level 2 – Appointment with Practice Nurse Deborah who is a Smoking Advisor and can
prescribe patches and offer continued support etc
Level 3 – Referral to a Smoking Advisor (in Norwich).
Update From The Practice
a)
Dr Conway told the PPG that the Surgery was planning to recruit another GP in the near
future to replace Dr Young who will be retiring. They were reviewing all possibilities as it was
proving difficult to recruit a suitable person and there was a national shortage of GPs, especially in
London, Cornwall and Norfolk.
b)
Jace told the group that the current DNA (did not attend) rate was 80 – 100 appointments
per month. This is a problem and is causing concern. The Surgery is going to try texting people,
firstly to confirm their appointment and then to remind them of their appointment the day before.
They are now in the process of collecting patients’ mobile phone numbers.
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8.
Any other business
a)
Eileen showed the group the new Stepping Out for Health poster. The walks will restart
again in May and any help in leading the walks would be gratefully received. Posters will be
displayed around the village at the beginning of April.
b)
The group were updated by Ann on the Hingham Good Neighbour Scheme. Jace agreed to
display a poster in the Surgery.
c)
Frank asked members to think about how the PPG could recruit new people. It would be
good to recruit young members. Eileen said that volunteering is popular now on CVs with young
people, especially when they participated in such things like the Duke of Edinburgh schemes. It was
also suggested that perhaps advertising specific activities, such as toy washing may attract some
people who would not otherwise consider being on a formal group or committee. Notices for new
recruits will be placed in the parish magazine and around the village.
9.
Date of next meeting:
Tuesday 8th April 2014 at 6.00pm
2014 dates: Tues 10th June, Tuesday 12th August, Tues 7th Oct (AGM), Tues 9th Dec.
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