Meeting of St Stephen's House Patient Participation Group

Minutes

Meeting of St Stephen's House Patient Participation Group

16th January 2017 at 13.00 hours at Milford House, The Mead, Ashtead, Surrey

Present

Professor David Hawksworth CBE (Chairman)

Mr Mitesh Amin

Mr Edwin Chappell

Mrs Margaret Gray (Treasurer)

Mr Philip Lyons (Vice-Chairman)

Mr Lee Meyers

Mrs Lynne Messenger

Mrs Rhiannon Roderick-Brooks

Professor Patricia Wiltshire (Acting Secretary)

Apologies

Dr Sam Eldred

Mr Eric Skyte (Secretary)

1.Introductory Items

1.1The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologised for having the change the date of the meeting at such short notice. He especially welcomed Mr Mitesh Amin who attended for the first time, and the meeting agreed that he would be co-opted until his appointment was confirmed at the next AGM.

1.2The minutes of the meeting held on 21st November 2016, which had previously been circulated, were accepted without change.

1.3There were no matters arising that had not been included on this meeting's agenda.

2.Surgery Matters

2.1CQC Inspection: Mrs Messenger reported that the inspection had been held on 6th September 2016, but the results had only just been received. The overall rating was "good" and the surgery planned to accept the draft report. There were only minor criticisms and these related to issues such as (a) organisation of filing, (b) fire safety, and (c) lack of testing of tap water for Legionella spp of bacteria. However, as this bacterium is only prevalent in old hot water tanks, neglected showers and pipes, it was thought by the meeting that this was unlikely to be a problem in the surgery. Nevertheless, Mrs Messenger reported that the surgery would undergo testing as soon as appropriate.

2.2Staff and Facilities: Mrs Messenger reported that the surgery's computer system would be changed completely to EMIS in due course. This would necessitate changes in the on-line facility for making appointments and ordering prescriptions. This might present problems for patients as material could not be transferred automatically from the existing system.

2.3Display of Books: After some discussion, it was agreed that the location of the shelving in the waiting room would be discussed by the partners. The need for the shelves to be at a higher level was noted.

2.4Personal Medical History Fact Sheets: Mrs Messenger reported that making summary medical histories for patients was to be discussed by the partners. It was noted that there would be a charge for this service.

2.5Behind Scene Visits: It was suggested that no more than two people at any one time should visit behind the scenes in the surgery. Anyone members of the committee wishing to make such a visit should contact Mrs Messenger by e-mail.

2.6Confidentiality: It was felt appropriate for members of the Committee to sign a confidentiality agreement as sensitive matters might be discussed on occasion. Professor Wiltshire agreed to send a copy of one used by the Surrey Downs Patient Participation Group Forum to the Practice Manager as an example.

2.7Urgent appointments: The requirement for telephoning the surgery after 08.00 for same-day appointments was reported to be difficult for patients. Mrs Messenger said that the receptionists had misunderstood the situation, and that she would discuss the matter with them.

3.E-mail and Newsletter

Mr Chappell reported that the patient e-list now stood at approximately 560 patients. The meeting felt that it was unfortunate that the newsletter due before Christmas had not been produced and distributed. It was considered that a newsletter should be produced urgently as a number of items needed to be highlighted for patients. These included (a) the reports of the quiz night, (b) the AGM, and (c) the current situation regarding the "5 Couch Challenge". Furthermore, a request for more books was pressing as the current stock was running low. Mr Chappell agreed to write a newsletter as a matter of urgency.

The meeting suggested that Mr Amin would "partner" Mr Chappell and act as a back-up should there be any difficulty in completing agreed tasks on time. It was also suggested that more than one person should have access to the patient e-mail list so that any urgent matters would not be held up in times of difficulty.

4.5 Couch Challenge

4.1Funding: Mrs Gray (Treasurer) reported that the current fund now stood at £2,675, with £1,599.99 in the bank account. In addition, donations of £1,095 had been received from donors, making a total of £2,674.99. A member of the Committee donated £0.01 to round up the amount of £2, 675.

The donations included £1,000 given by an anonymous donor, and contributions by the Staff of St Stephen's House Surgery that were given as a result of their "Christmas Jumper Day", and for giving money to the fund rather than sending Christmas card. The Chair agreed to write to the Staff on behalf of the Committee for their enthusiastic support.

4.2Purchase of couches and publicity: The Partners and Staff were investigating the most appropriate couches for purchase, as well as the ancillary equipment that would be bought by the Surgery. When the couches were purchased, it was agreed that this should be publicised widely in the local media. The committee was particularly pleased that it had been possible to secure so much funding for this appeal when it had only been launched in June 2016.

4.3Future fund-raising activities:

4.3.1Paypal: It was agreed that every attempt should be made to inform people that donations could be made by Paypal, as this was an extremely easy method of payment.

4.3.2Next quiz night: It was agreed that the next fund-raising activity would be a quiz night at the Ashtead Garden Centre on 24th April 2017. Mrs Roderick-Brookes agreed to join Mr Chappell and Mr Lyons to investigate the logistics of this event and report back to the Committee. A special meeting will be arranged to discuss this further when information became available.

4.3.3Village Day: In view of the success of the stand at Village Day in 2016, it was agreed that a similar sized pitch would be booked. Mr Chappell agreed to complete and submit the necessary forms to the Rotary Club Organising Committee.

5.Bereavement Self Help Group

After some discussion, it was agreed that the first step should be to determine the nature of the facilities already existing for those who were suffering bereavement. It should not be forgotten that people are often bereaved for loss of pets. Information could be included in the newsletter, and the bereavement link perhaps added to the website in due course. Mr Meyers agreed to investigate the matter and report to the next meeting.

6.Treasurer's Report

Mrs Gray reported that the general account stood at £360.65. Book sales had generated about £60 since the AGM. She had, at last, received official documentation from the bank enabling her to be a signatory to the account. The other signatories stood as Professor Hawksworth and Mr Skyte.

7.Any Other Business

7.1Male GPs: Some patients had expressed concern that there was no male doctor at the surgery. It was felt that some comment about this should be included in the newsletter. The Committee unanimously agreed that, as for many years, most practices had been staffed wholly by male GPs, the gender of the doctor should not be an issue for concern.

7.2Notice Boards: Concern was expressed that the contents of the PPG notice boards was badly out of date; minutes of the 2015 AGM were still on view, and no recent minutes had replaced them. Furthermore, the pictures of Committee Members needed updating to reflect the changes agreed at the AGM.

7.3Assistant Secretary: It was agreed that as Mr Chappell was going to be "partnered" by Mr Amin, so Mr Skyte would also be partnered by another Committee Member. In this way, all Committee business would have continuity should those responsible be away, or otherwise unable to fulfil their duty.

7.4Ophthalmology: Professor Wiltshire gave an update on the current situation for elective and emergency treatment available at Epsom, St Helier, and Kingston Hospitals. Only Kingston provides emergency treatment out of hours and at weekends. St Helier provides emergency treatment from 00.09-17.30 hours. Only elective treatment was available at Epsom Hospital, and even A&E is unable to provide treatment.

8.Date of Next Meeting

The meeting concluded at 14.45.

It was decided to hold the next Committee meeting on Monday, 6th March 2017 at Milford House, The Mead, Ashtead and it was hoped that one of the GPs would be able to attend on that occasion.

Signed…………………………………………………………….

Date……………………………………………………………….

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Patricia E.J. Wiltshire 30th January 2017