Almshouse Surgery & Sandal Castle Medical Centre
PRG Meeting Minutes
28th November 2012 2pm
Present: Carol Beedham, Sam Crone, Ruth Gallagher, Deni Matuk, Robert Ince, Janis Crowther, Henry
Crowther, George Blower, Andy Power, Kathryne White, Elaine McNicol, Angie Whelen, Susan
Wood, Graham Beynon-Fisher, William Reynolds.
Apologies: Norman Hazel
NHS Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group Presentation
Members of the CCG, Liz Blythe, Clare Laycock and Tony Nicholas, gave a presentation on the
changes from PCT to CCG. A hard copy of the presentation is included with the minutes.
Welcome & Apologies
Carol advised that we had received apologies from Norman Hazel.
Previous minutes - were agreed.
Practice Update
The practice has been granted funding for new automatic doors at Sandal Surgery. These will be
done as early as possible in the New Year.
The decorators start this week at Sandal Surgery. The waiting room at Almshouse has been
redecorated, the waiting room at Sandal will not be done this week but will be sometime in the near
future.
A new phone system will be installed getting installed in January at Sandal Surgery. This will be the
same as the Almshouse Surgery currently operates. The practice is hoping to keep the main number
at Sandal.
The practice continues to support medical students and will be saying goodbye to our first FY2 GP,
Dr. Shipley at the end of this week. She has been a valued member of the team. The new FY2, Dr.
Hoggarth, will start shortly after.
The practice has had its annual Infection Control audit and scored below 80% for both surgeries. The
main areas for improvement are all small simple things such as sharps bins that need attaching to
walls and also things that will take more time and be done in the course of refurbishment such as
vinyl flooring to replace carpets.
The practice submitted its CQC application for registration and will receive a response in
approximately 6 weeks.
Notice boards
Ruth, Bob and Sam have all met on a few occasions to look at the notice boards. They have all now
been re-vamped with up to date information and are labelled with themed boards. The members of
the group suggested we remove other signs from around the building that are stuck to walls and
make them more presentable.
The PRG group are to decide on a monthly theme for the PRG board and the Seasonal Health board.
This will be added to the next agenda.
Patient Survey
Carol gave out copies of the new patient survey. The question has been removed about waiting
times as Sam will run a search to find out the general waiting times that patients have had over the
period that the survey is handed out. This will help get a realistic view of waiting times as some
patients may perceive a wait as longer than it actually was if they arrive quite early for there
appointment.
Carol asked the group what they thought an appropriate sample size for responses would be?
As the survey was mirroring last years questions, in order for responses to be compared, Carol
suggested the same number of responses as last year was an appropriate size. Last year 369
completed questionnaires were received. The group agreed this was an appropriate sample size.
The survey will start next week (week commencing 3rd Dec) and will be handed out for 2 weeks.
It was mentioned about the email response that is detailed on the survey. This was discussed as it is
not possible to fill in the survey online. The only way to email the response would be for a patient to
print and complete the survey then scan the completed result and email it to the practice.
Alternatives can be looked at for the next survey.
The survey will be given out in Reception at both surgeries. There will be some on reception, a box in
reception for completed responses and we will also provide some stamped address envelopes.
Volunteers are required for handing out the survey between surgery times of 9-11.30am and 35.30pm. Names of volunteers and times they are available should be given to Sam.
The surgery will ensure it has sufficient pens and notice boards for this exercise.
Action Plan from Patient Survey
The action plan from the last survey was reviewed.

Leaflets have been completed; a copy was handed out to the group. This will not replace the
main practice leaflet but is intended as a summary of the services available.

The practice has changed the way it publishes the figures of patients who did not attend an
appointment. The screens in reception now display the figures for the patients who HAVE
attended their appointment to positively reinforce the fact that we have many patients who
do attend appointments.

The practice commenced its SMS service this week. There are 1182 patients who have
consented to receive SMS messages and 640 that do not wish to receive them. The practice
is currently sending out appointment reminders 1 day before the appointment. This looks
like it is working so far as many patients are ringing to cancel appointments instead of just
not attending. The results will be reviewed in 4 weeks by the practice.

The redecoration of the waiting room at Almshouse has been done.
Suggestions
Action Plan for Suggestions

The screens at both surgeries have been amended. Sandals have taken a bit longer as there
are problems with the screens but they have the new practice information video on them.
More information will be added in the near future.

The plumber has ordered a higher toilet seat for the disabled toilet.

Carol has been looking at higher seating for the waiting room at Sandal. She has sourced
some but they are only 2cm higher than the actual waiting room seats. Carol will order 2 for
Sandal and there may need to be a discussion about where they will be placed. A patient
mentioned that the armchairs at Almshouse were loose so Sam will see that they get fixed.

Carol has looked at a weight machine for reception similar to the blood pressure machine
but it was agreed that this would be put on hold and instead look at a sit down weighing
machine for use by disabled patients in one of the clinical rooms.

The notice boards have already been discussed. Sandals are next to be looked at.

The access from the main road into the Sandal Surgery car park is a slope and is covered in
leaves which become dangerous. Carol will check with the landlords to see who is
responsible for clearing them.

The rubbish outside the building at Almshouse has been raised with the landlord and Carol is
awaiting a response.

A separate queue for prescriptions has been put in place at busier times. It is not a separate
line but another member of staff will come to the desk in busier periods and ask if anyone is
collecting prescriptions. This also works down at Sandal. Sam is keeping an eye on this.

Carol has received a quote for making the men’s toilets electronic opening; it will be
discussed by the users of Trinity Medical Centre as the toilets are shared.

A patient mentioned the smell around the female toilets. Carol will look at a wall mounted
air freshener.
New Suggestions
There were some Sandal slips found in the Almshouse box. This has happened before but never the
other way around.
1. Is it possible to offer telephone appointments for patients who can be consulted over the
phone?
2. Could the nice girl on reception please teach the other 2 how to smile?
3. There are never any appointments. Was told there was “none in the system”
4. Is it possible to have a number system to give patients an idea of the waiting time?
5. Almshouse waiting room is too warm
6. Good to have a male receptionist
7. Waiting times are too long for patients with young /disabled children. Is there a way these
patients can be taken in as a priority?
Electronic Prescription Service
The practice went live this week (Tuesday 27th November) with the new electronic prescribing
service. There will be posters and leaflets in both receptions advising about this service.
AOB
Network Meeting
Ruth will email out the details of the network meeting she attended. It is also open to new members
if anyone is interested
Cryogenics
A patient has seen an article about pain management using cryogenics that can now be performed in
a GP practice and wanted to know if we had any plans to do so. Dr. Power was unaware of any
scheme but he and Carol would keep an eye out for any training that may arise.
Next Meeting
The next PRG meeting is on Wednesday 9th January 2013 at 2pm