St John’s Way Medical Centre – Patient Participation
MINUTES OF SJW PPG Meeting on Thursday 28th February 2013
Present:
Patients: Shancel Shirley, Julia Shirley, Lenny Smith, Mary Slow, Jan Pollock, Linda Pritchard,
Rosemary Tankard, Laura Edwards, Pamela Moffatt, Chris O’Neill
Staff: Penny Borrow (PJB), Jack Rose (JR), Dr McAnea (TM), Dr Lawson (EL), Dr Wang (ZW),
Visitors: Lorraine Patel, Service Manager and Weight Management Specialist & Hannah Pearman, Dietetic
Assistant, C&I Community Dietician Service
Apologies: David & Brenda Heather (Patients)
Agenda Item
Agenda Item 1 - Introduction – All those present introduced themselves and light snacks were provided.
Agenda Item 2 – PRESENTATION ABOUT HEALTH AND DIET
With Lorraine Patel and Hannah Pearman – Islington Community Dietician Service:
Lorraine and Hannah gave a short talk on Health and Diet and the services on offer in Islington. Some of
the topics discussed were healthy eating rather than dieting, definition of the terms overweight, obese,
BMI (Body Mass Index) and the attitude differences between men and women when it comes to healthy
eating.
 PJB will contact Loraine and Hannah to arrange another visit where they can give a full
presentation on Healthy eating and living.
 The patients also said they would like group sessions available for the general population on the
subject.
Agenda Item 3 - REVIEW OF THE LAST MEETING
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PJB gave an overview of the last meeting as per the agenda from 03.09.12 with particular
relevance to the opportunity for patients to run the group meeting rather than staff. The patients
will be thinking about this before the next meeting.
The patients talked about influencing commissioning decisions and how effective the group can
be within the context of current legislation. PJB explained that the practice PPG meeting is more
about influencing what goes on at SJW, whereas the locality PPG meetings (North Islington PPG and
Pan Islington PPG meetings) focus more on the wider commissioning issues in Islington. Patients
were encouraged to attend Locality PPG meetings – next one on 28th March (see details below).
Agenda Item 4
– INTRODUCTIONS FROM PRACTICE TEAM MEMBERS
Members of the Practice team introduced themselves, either new staff or staff that had taken on a new
role. Those to speak were:
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JR, recently appointed Assistant Practice Manager with background in a variety of operations &
management positions;
Dr TM, currently Executive Partner for the practice and, as well as being a full time GP, involved in
working closely with PJB on day to day practice management issues;
Dr EL, previously a GP Trainee and then salaried GP, now appointed as a full time Partner with a
special interest in care planning and soon to be working on a new project for long term conditions
care;
Dr ZW, currently part time GP Trainee working in a specialist academic post.
Patients agreed that it was great to see male members of staff joining what had seem to be a largely
female workforce!
Agenda Item 5
– PATIENT SURVEY
PJB handed out copies of the survey results summary to all present; these will also be available on the
website. The Jazz ‘n’ Jabs event was again a great success where the survey was launched and then ran
until the end of November. Noted that there were more responses to the survey in 2012 than 2011.
 Ideas on some issues of being able to get through on the phone lines were discussed and further
suggestions invites.
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Ideas for future questions for the 2013 survey were also requested.
There was a discussion about how to encourage more attendance at PPG meetings and events and how to
ensure that those who attend are representative of the patient population as a whole. PJB explained that
over 100 patient names are now on the PPG member list and all were invited to this meeting. Also
suggested and agreed that future meetings could be held at different times to allow a broad spectrum of
attendance. Particular concern was raised about the possibility of older patients slipping through the net
including suffering from side effects of medication; TM gave an outline of how the practice invites all
patients with long term conditions for annual reviews to discuss their condition, review test results and
carry out annual or more frequent medication reviews.
Agenda Item 6 – DEVELOPMENTS AT ST JOHN’S WAY
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TM informed the group that a bequest had been made from a former patient and his widow for the
sum of £10,000. The team is very thankful for this generous bequest and intends to use the
money for something that would benefit all patients. The group was invited to offer suggestions
and pass them back to the practice. A short list will be drawn up and presented to the
benefactors for approval. A suggestion of an examination couch suitable for wheelchair users was
put forward.
The flu season, having been kicked off with the Jazz’n Jabs Health Fair at the end of September,
was deemed a success; it was announced that 72.5% of the over 65s population had been
immunised - just short of the national target of 75%.
The practice is now registered for CQC (Care Quality Commission) and we are waiting to hear
when the inspection will be. It is anticipated that about a weeks’ notice will be given for this and
the emphasis will be on talking to patients and staff in order to assess how effectively the practice
delivers its services. The inspectors will want to speak to some members of the PPG.
Funding to improve health and safety and infection control was awarded from the PCT in the
autumn and this has enabled some major premises improvements including refurbishment of the
patient and staff toilets; resurfacing of the ramp leading to the entrance; a new utility room for
clinical waste; a new cleaners’ stock and sluice room.
There is an opportunity to bid for more funding and ideas regarding Health and Safety improvements will
be gratefully accepted.
Agenda Item 6 – DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
 Next North Islington PPG (NIPPG) – Thursday 28th March 2.30-4.30pm at Resource for London
(refreshments from 2pm)
 Next SJW PPG meeting – Monday 20th May 2013 – 6.30-8.00pm (refreshments from 6.15pm)
Any Other Business
AOB from Jan Pollock who had concerns over the selling off of parts of the Whittington Hospital over the
next five years. There were some differing opinions amongst patients as to the actual situation and it
was agreed that the issue raised again and further information shared by patients at the next meeting.
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