Meadowbrook Road Surgery

Patient Participation Group Meeting

Thursday 24th July 2014

12.30pm – 2.30pm (Lunch 12.15pm)

Venue – West Midlands Hospital, Coleman Hill, Halesowen

No
1 / Attendees
Dr I More – GP Meadowbrook Surgery
Andrew Manning – Practice Manager Meadowbrook Surgery
Debbie Armstrong – Medical Secretary Meadowbrook Surgery
Carol Matthews – Prescriptions Meadowbrook Surgery
Maria Marsh – GP Liaison West Midlands Hospital
Robert Franklin – Engagement Support Officer Dudley CCG
Lindsey Harding – Dudley CCG
Katharine Baker Scully – Patient
Margaret Barge - Patient
Jane Beard – Patient
Paul Boxley - Patient
Anthony Brettle – Patient
Marian Brettle – Patient
David Burke – Patient
Denise Kearney - Patient
Joy Mole – Patient
Kathryn Rudge – Patient
Jayne Stevens - Patient
Celia Tooth – Patient
John Tooth – Patient
Helen Tromans – Patient
John Tromans – Patient
Apologies
Sophia Harvey - Patient
Elaine Stevenson - Patient
2 / Welcome
Andrew Manning introduced himself, welcomed all to the meeting and thanked West Midlands Hospital for hosting the event and providing the catering.
3 / West Midlands Hospital
Maria Marsh GP Liaison from WMH provided an overview of both the private and NHS procedures now available at the hospital. An offer was made of a guided tour of the hospital at the end of the meeting which was taken up by a number of patients.
Andrew provided an overview on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is to regulate, inspect and review all healthcare services in the public, private
and voluntary sectors in England. He confirmed that Meadowbrook had been inspected in January 2014 and that a number of areas had been highlighted as requiring minor attention.
Action - An update to be provided on CQC at the next PPG meeting.
4 / Dudley CCG and Patient Participation Groups
Robert Franklin delivered a presentation on the role of the CCG, who takes the lead for different aspects of primary care, how localities operate and the effective way in which PPGs have been working across the area. A paper copy of his presentation was circulated.
A question was asked about who the GP leads were for Halesowen Locality. It was confirmed that this was currently Dr R Johnson and Dr J Darby. Concerns were raised that none of the GPs from Meadowbrook were taking the lead for the locality. It was confirmed the appointments had been made on a democratic basis and assurance was given that all decisions made at the Locality meeting went to a democratic vote before being agreed.
Action – Robert Franklin is to find out the frequency of re-election of lead officers for the locality.
5 / Meadowbrook Surgery
Andrew delivered a presentation on:
- GP Patient Survey results
- Changes made at Meadowbrook in 2014
- Future plans
The presentation slides were used to facilitate an open discussion on a number of key points as follows:
GP Patient Survey -Quite a few patients present were not aware that this took place.Andrew explained the background and format. He outlined that results for all surgeries were published and could be viewed on the GP Patient Survey internet site.A brief overview of the results was provided along with CCG average scores to enable the PPG to put some context into the scores for Meadowbrook. These were shown to be very favourable including:
- Overall Experience of GP Surgery Total Good 94% (CCG Av 85%)
- Recommend GP Surgery to someone new to the area 92% (CCG Av 76%)
- Helpfulness of Receptionists 98% (CCG Av 88%)
- Ease of getting through on the phone 81% (CCG Av 68%)
- Overheard in reception and not happy about it 22% (CCG Av 27%)
- Frequency of seeing preferred GP – Always/Almost Always 64% (CCG Av 38%)
- Appointments available on the same day/next day 49% (CCG Av 47%)
- Waiting time at the surgery more than 15 mins 11% (CCG Av 29%)
It was generally agreed that the feedback on Meadowbrook was very good.
Action – Andrew Manning agreed to circulate a full summary of the results to all members of the PPG along with the minutes of the meeting.
Patient Numbers – A question was asked about the number of patients registered at Meadowbrook. It was confirmed this was in the region of 7500. This was much higher than perceived by the PPG.
Future Surgery Plans – Concerns were expressed that members of the PPG would not like to see the surgery amalgamated with other local practices or become part of a mini medical centre. Andrew advised that there were currently no such plans.
Telephones – Frustrations were raised about the difficulty of sometimes getting through on the phone. An example was given where a patient had waited some 11 minutes before the call was answered. She did not wish to make an appointment but merely wished to speak to the PM.
Andrew outlined the challenges of meeting telephone demand at peak times with available resourcing. Also pointed out that the length of each call could vary significantly. However he was very open to identifying ways to improve access.
He outlined that most surgeries had removed their telephone prescription service to increase resource to answers other incoming calls. The general perception both from the patients and employees of Meadowbrook is that this would be a retrograde step.
Patients said that they would rather hear an engaged tone rather than just be kept holding on. Maybe we could look at a queuing system saying what number they were in the queue then the patient could decide if they wished to continue to hold or ring back later.
Online access has been a great success with 900 patients registered to date. This will certainly help to reduce the number of incoming calls.
Suggestions made by PPG
- A dedicated admin line being made available for calls directly to PM/Secretary/ to obtain test results etc (anything other than an appointment) to bypass reception.
- Restrictions made on time of day patients could call to obtain test results.It was suggested the reception line could be used for this purpose during quieter times of the day.
- Better telephone system to advise incoming callers where they were in the queue.
Action – Andrew Manning agreed to review the suggestions made by the panel. In addition he advised that he would look at the current line configuration and also continue active promotion of the online service. An update would be provided at the next meeting.
Appointment Availability - It was suggested that maybe we could dedicate the first half hour in a morning to patients who work or have children.However another patient raised concerns about this being discriminatory.
It was suggested offering late night appointments for patients who work.Another PPG member stated that this should not really be necessary as employers should have a care policy in which they allow reasonable time off for doctors, dentists etc.
Overall it was agreed that generally patients did not find it too difficult to get appointments and it was understood that there will always be times of greater difficulty in getting an appointment based on patient demand.
Test Results - Concern was raised about results being given out at reception as this is not a very confidential area of the office (see patient confidentiality below). Also the fact that staff give results out, what happens if it given out incorrectly, should this really be allowed?
Andrew pointed out that the only results that can be given out by the staff are those that the doctors have annotated as “normal” or “no action required”. Otherwise the staff would carry out the commented instruction that the doctor had quoted which would normally be for the patient to make an appointment to see a GP.
Patient Confidentiality - Being overheard at reception is a concern for members of the PPG and the potential resultant breach of data protection. To reduce the divulgence of patient’s full names/confidential information it was suggested that the staff use first names (most of our patients know each other or know someone who knows someone which can be quite embarrassing).
The general consensus agreed was that we need to protect the patient.
It was suggested that the main phone answering is moved away from reception to reduce the risk of confidentiality breaches. Andrew explained this would be difficult due to lack of available space in the office and the need to have reception resourced.
It was brought up that many medical records are stored behind reception. Was there a need for these? Could they be stored elsewhere? This was suggested, as patients felt that if the records were removed, then this would make more space to enable staff to answer calls away from the front desk which would improve confidentiality.Andrewexplained that there was still a need to have these records to hand as not all patient information was on computer and that the records were used on a daily basis.
Another patient suggested a TV in the waiting room would help drown out the quietness of the surgery when speaking to reception. However, patients did say that this may not be appropriate as they may miss what was being said by reception staff.
PPG members were asked if they felt the introduction of music in the waiting room would help the confidentiality issue. Feedback was overwhelming in that patients would not like to hear music being played.
Action – Andrew Manning agreed to review the confidentiality concerns to identify specific actions that could be taken to improve the situation. Feedback to be provided at the next PPG meeting.
2014 Meadowbrook Changes
Andrew Manning updated the PPG on the improvements made during the last few months:
- Increased resourcing (Nurse 11 hrs per week, Health Care Asst 6 hrs per week and receptionist 32 hrs per week).
- New clinical room
- Introduction of a diabetic clinic
- Glucose tolerance testing clinic
- Health Check service for patients aged 40-74
- Learning Disability Health Checks
- Smoking Cessation Clinic
- Online Patient access
- New computer system
PPG members confirmed they were aware of some of the new services but not all. This highlighted the challenges faced in communication. All agreed a TV monitor in the waiting room would be beneficial. Andrew explained that a TV was something that he was looking into which would detail practice news/medical information/local activities (Halas events/coffee mornings etc). It was agreed this would be a more effective mode of communication than the posters in the waiting room.
A patient advised that she had made use of the diabetic clinic and GTT. She had to sit in the waiting room for 2 hours undergoing the GTT and praised the staff for the way they had coped with a really busy surgery during the time she was waiting. Andrew thanked her for the positive feedback.
It was suggested by patients that maybe a board designated to “What’s going on locally” would also improve communication.
Action – Andrew Manning to explore the options of a TV monitor/notice boards and report back to the PPG.
Baby Changing facility – This had recently been raised by a number of patients as no facilities currently exist. It was agreed by all present that the surgery should look to progress this.
Action – Andrew Manning agreed to implement.
Blood Tests – PPG members questioned why the practice no longer undertook blood tests on site. It was explained that the withdrawal of this service was outside the surgery’s control.
Signage – The surgery had been asked about improving external signage during the previous few weeks. Members of the PPG did not feel this should be a priority at this time.
Post box – Concerns were raised about the post box and the difficulty in making sure items dropped through correctly. There were some reported instances of minor injury when this was being used.
Action – Andrew Manning agreed to review this as a priority.
Parking – This was raised as an issue. It was brought up that once the staff had parked over the road, there was very little space left available for patients to park, especially disabled. However it was acknowledged that there were limited alternative options for staff to park elsewhere. The main concern related to disabled access and in particular wheelchair access for Halas House patients.
Action – Andrew Manning agreed to review and report back to PPG.
Future Plans – The PPG were advised that the practice had plans to introduce an Electronic Prescription Service, text messaging, ECG testing and Chlamydia screening.
6 / Future Meetings
All attendees agreed that the meeting had been beneficial and confirmed they would be happy to attend 3 meetings per year. Andrew advised that he had been offered the use of Coffee Cups which is run by Halas House (local residential home for people with learning disabilities), in Thornhill Road. A date for the next meeting would be communicated in due course.
Andrew confirmed he would issue minutes of the meeting to everyone, along with a copy of the GP Patient Survey results and the slides shown during the meeting. Email contact details were taken for distribution of minutes.
Andrew thanked everyone for taking the time to attend and for their valued contribution.
Meeting Closed – 14.45pm