Dr A D PearlmanKippax Hall Surgery

MB ChB MRCGP54 High Street

Dr J R JonesKippax

MB ChB DFFPLeedsLS25 7AB

Dr J L HawkheadTel: 0113 3854558

MB ChB DRCOG MRCGPFax: 0113 2873970

Patient Participation Group – 19 November 2013

Minutes of meeting

Attendees

Karen Taylor, Practice Manager and Chair

Dr Jason Jones, GP Partner and interim Secretary

Ronald Shaw

Roger Van-Loo

Elaine Van-Loo

Wendy Hodge

Elizabeth Wilson

Elaine Cheesborough

Pauline Kearton

Apologies

Margaret Bollard

Jean Gittins

Peter Bollard

Ellen Anderson

Susan Ball

Kathleen Judd

  1. Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes were agreed as correct.

  1. Matters Arising

No new information specifically regarding the work of the CCG

ENT and dermatology services that were available at Colton Medical Centre have now moved across the way onto ThorpePark and the new service will hopefully provide additional services.

Well Woman clinic – a review of nursing appointments is still underway and updates will be provided at a later date with regard to the feasibility of a well woman clinic

  1. Annual Patient Survey

The proposed annual survey was discussed by the group.

It was agreed that all the questions were appropriate

Suggestion was made to also include questions about the premises: cleanliness, tidiness, access.

It was agreed that these would be added to the survey

The survey is planned to take place mid December with the questionnaire being handed out to all patients visiting the surgery. The survey will also be made available on the practice website.

Results of the survey will be fed back at the next patient group meeting

  1. Newsletter – Use of personal information

The draft newsletter on the use of personal information was reviewed and discussion took place around confidentiality and the new processes that patients needed to be made aware of and the decisions that patients needed to make.

The newsletter was agreed as suitable for publication

  1. Flu clinics

Feed back was sought on how the flu clinics had gone this year. The overall consensus was that they had worked well and moving back to Saturday sessions had been effective. Clinics had run to time and been efficient.

  1. Hypertension checks

The views of the group were sought on a consideration to change the format of hypertension checks. Currently patients on the hypertension register have 2 appointments in the year, both of 20 minutes with a member of the nursing team. One appointment is in effect a full MOT with blood pressure being taken along with advice on lifestyle etc. The second appointment is more of a monitoring exercise with patients having their BP and bloods taken. The practice is considering the viability of changing the second appointment to purely a monitoring appointment with bloods being taken by the phlebotomist and the patient having their BP recorded on the automatic BP machine. This would free up the number of nursing appointments. The invite letter for this appointment would make it clear that it was purely a monitoring appointment and if they had any concerns that they wished to discuss or if they wanted any advice then they should book in to see the nurse.

The group could see no problem with this proposal

  1. Suggestion box

There were no suggestions in the box

  1. Members issues
  2. End of life care – Information was requested on how patients reaching the end of life were cared for. The practice holds a monthly multidisciplinary meeting including GP’s, District Nurses, McMillan Nurse and Community Matron to discuss patients who are nearing their end of life. The purpose of this meeting is to keep all professionals up to date with the progress of the patient and to review the ongoing care and support that is required. It will often be the District Nurses that form that main point of care. Discussions took place around the support for carers during this time and the importance of having clear communication routes when support / advice is required. It was agreed that these concerns would be taken to the next MDT meeting so that the current arrangements for carers could be clarified as well as looking at other ways of supporting carers.
  3. Leaves and cigarette ends building up in the entrance. Practice to look at cleaning arrangements.
  4. Medication reviews by pharmacist – clarification was sought as to why chemists wished to review patient’s medication. The purpose of pharmacy medication reviews is to ensure patients are using their medication correctly and at the right times. They are often in a better position to know if a patient is under or over using their medication. The patient is free to choose whether or not to have a medication review with the pharmacist
  5. Prescribing switches and branded vs generic – clarification was sought on why medication may get switched to a different brand and why chemists may dispense one brand one month and then a different brand another month. Discussion took place around how the cost of drugs can differ between branded and generic, the content of each being identical. If a GP prescribes a branded item then the chemist must dispense that branded item. If a generic item is prescribed then the chemist may dispense from any manufacturer.
  1. Date and time of next meeting

Tuesday 4 February 2014 at 17:00