Minutes for the Patient Experience Group.
Meeting: 22nd August 2013, 5.30pm
Chair: Dr S Whiteside
Attendees:
Louise Dey, GG, LS, MM, NW
Apologies:
SR
(JB has stepped down from the group)
1. Minutes from the February 2013 Meeting.
Accepted
2. Matters Arising
GG has emailed Andy Finlayson about the safety concerns regarding parking on the road down to the surgery but is yet to receive a reply.
MS has provided LD with leaflets about fitness classes on offer in the locality and LD has put them into the waiting room and also added one to the practice’s website.
Our next available appointment with a GP is 9th September at Cove and on the 11th September at Kincorth. We have recently had GPs off on annual leave and have struggled to get full maternity locum cover for Dr Anna Macfarlane. One of the locums we had secured has subsequently had to withdraw through ill health.
GG has provided information about Banks Of Dee Gym (which is a charity) for display at the practice. LD was not sure if MS had provided information about the Meditation Classes and Tuesday Club run at Altens Community Centre.
We now send text reminders for patients attending minor surgery, implanon, coil and community chaplaincy listening clinics. We hope to extend this service once more patients have signed up.
3. Staff Update
The Practice has increased the number of hours done weekly by its Nurse Practitioners, Peter and Janet. This allows the practice to transfer its on the day appointments to them and open up slots within GP surgeries for more routine appointments.
Dr Glory Elofuke has returned to the hospital for the next part of her training. Dr Lee Barry (male) has returned to the practice for the last 20 months of his GP Training. He is working part time across both sites.
We have a new receptionist, Kim, working at Cove. She has previous experience of working as a Medical Receptionist and is busy learning the ropes!
We have a Career Start Doctor – Linzi Lumsden – joining us for a year in September. She will work Mondays and Tuesdays across both sites. She has a specialist interest in Sexual Health so will work there on other days of the week.
Dr Anna Macfarlane has now commenced her maternity leave and intends to be away from the practice for a year.
4. Review of Patient Charter
Group members had had the opportunity to review this in advance of the meeting and could not find any changes needed at present. LD to make a copy available on the website.
5. Role of the Community Team – District Nurses & Health Visitors
We currently have one District Nurse located at Cove – Julie Taggart – as her colleague is off sick. She is assisted by a Community Nurse – Paula Scott. Employed by NHS Grampian, they co-ordinate care for all of our patients at Kincorth and Cove. They do a wide variety of tasks for housebound patients including dressings, catheter care, bloods, enemas, continence care, syringe drivers and a lot of palliative care. They work closely with the Direct Delivery Team based at Torry which compromises of a large team of nurses who are able to go out and perform some of these functions for our patients whilst our own nurses oversee a patient’s overall care plan. Paula also does some of our childhood immunisation clinics.
Health Visitors care for children under five years old. Previously they also did annual checks on those over 75 years old but these were stopped a couple of years ago. Also based at Cove, they focus on child protection issues increasingly but also undertake baby clinics and support new parents in a variety of ways. A lot of their time is spent dealing with caring for vulnerable children – attending case conferences, maintaining close links with the families, liaising with social work etc. GPs are finding an increasing amount of their time is taken up with elderly care, as the ageing population starts to have an impact. We have started having regular links with our Geriatrician (specialist doctor caring for the elderly) based at Woodend who can offer support and advice on the best care plans for our patients.
6. Fundraising Support
Dr Whiteside is aware that other patient groups actively fundraise for equipment for their local practices and queried whether this is something that our group might like to consider? She will have a think of possible ways to progress this and group members will consider if they might like to get involved.
7. Topics for future meetings?
We have now exhausted the list of topics group members wish covered at these meetings. Group members to have a think of anything else they would like covered and to let LD know.
GG suggested a tour of the building – LD will add to the next agenda.
8. AOCB
MM raised an issue where she thought a referral had been missed as she waited so long to hear from the hospital. Dr Whiteside confirmed any routine referral is a minimum wait of 3 months usually before you get an appointment – some departments such as Gynae are even longer. It is also normal for patients to get word of their appointments at very short notice. The Practice is not informed you have been allocated an appointment so it is always best to check directly with the hospital department you have been referred to if you are unsure. MM asked if this could be shared more widely with patients for reassurance – LD agreed to add to the next newsletter and Cove Chronicle and also to remind GPs to share this information with patients when they refer them. Dr Whiteside confirmed all our referrals are sent electronically now with the exception of xrays.
MM also raised the issue of a urine sample that went missing. LD to remind staff that if a result is not back after 5 days, it will not have been received by the labs (some are sent via internal mail, others patients post themselves) and will need to be repeated. Specific problems should be fed back to the practice at the time of the incident for further investigation.
NW raised an issue where a Clinician has said they would progress something for a patient but didn’t – This specific case is already being dealt with by Dr Whiteside. As a general rule, all complaints are thoroughly investigated within the practice and learning points ascertained to try to minimise the likelihood of a recurrence. Sometimes this is done formally through a Signficant Event Analysis meeting where the case is anonymised and considered by the wider team. To try to minimise the chance of a referral being missed, each Clinician has a column on their consulting screen where they can note each patient in their surgery they wish to refer. The Secretaries then check all referrals appear on that Clinician’s dictation tape. Each week the column is checked by the Office Manager to ensure all columns have been completed. Some Doctors type their consultation notes when the patient is still with them, others once the patient has left the room.
VM has received a letter from Anne Begg confirming a meeting she has scheduled with the Director and General Manager at First Bus regarding the loss of the number 21 bus between Kincorth and Cove. This is a result of the hefty petition she helped to co-ordinate. Patients are encouraged to write letters of support directly to Anne Begg as the Practice has already done.
Next Meeting: November 2013 – Actual date to be confirmed nearer the time