Meeting Report – 12th November 2015
MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES – We are still chasing Surrey County Council to get the bollards repaired. OHC is looking at the problem with appointment text message reminders. Ronnie Godfrey said that OHC were managing with the nursing staff they had but are still looking to recruit a chronic disease nurse.
TRAVEL VACCINATION SERVICE – This service is not part of OHC's core contract and a lot of appointment time is taken up doing necessary checks. OHC's diabetic nurse is the only qualified nurse to do travel vaccinations and due to the time spent on this service reviews for diabetic patients are getting behind schedule. Therefore the decision has been made to give patients 3 months' notice that the travel vaccination service will terminate. There are still 3 types of injection that are part of OHC core contract. Malaria tablets can be purchased from Boots or Paydens without the need for a GP prescription.
PRESCRIPTIONS- Discussion took place about a leaflet that some patients have received from a company called Pharmacy2U which looks very much like an NHS leaflet. David Borer has contacted NHS England as he thinks it is wrong and misleading and will report back when he gets a reply.
NOTICEBOARD – Discussion took place about the PPG noticeboard and it was agreed we should make it more eye catching. To raise awareness of the PPG we manned a 'meet and greet' table in the waiting room and feedback we had was not many knew about the PPG. Comments we received were about the state of the toilets, being able to email reception, address is on the website and if patients need assistance in the waiting room they can contact OHC to have an alert put on their record.
SCREENS AND WiFi IN WAITING ROOM – The left hand side of the TV screen was difficult to read, this has been changed. We asked if information about the PPG could be put on the 2 new screens. Focus, the company who supply OHC's telecommunications, are looking at providing WiFi for the whole building.
CQC INSPECTIONS AND REPORTS – David Borer agreed to respond to CQC's questionnaire about 'health and care service in your area'. The CQC have notified OHC that an inspection of the Health Centre will be taking place on the 24th November.
WORK EXPERIENCE – Both students on the PPG told the meeting about recent work experience they had done at East Surrey Hospital They felt it was very good experience and were greatly encouraged to pursue a career in medicine. When Dr Sathananthan speaks at Oxted School about health matters it was suggested that she also talks about medical careers and possible work experience at a hospital or doctors surgery.
TALKS – The URC will probably be the new venue for talks as the last talk took us over the maximum capacity for the Red Cross Centre, The next talk in February will be about the new MacMillan Cancer Research Centre at East Surrey Hospital and in March/April Dr Sian Griffiths will return to talk further on arthritis. Suggestions for future talks were Paediatric First Aid, children's conditions e.g. Autism and common childhood conditions and a Dietician talk. John from Community Responders would like to give an update about defibrillators in the local area at the next talk.
SUGAR INTAKE – George Choy advised of the issues currently in the press surrounding overweight and obese children and the 'Change for Life' campaign offering a range of healthy lifestyle choices and changes and showed the meeting the 'sugar swaps' leaflet.
NEWSLETTER – the latest newsletter has been finalised. The production of this takes a lot of effort by Alex and Pranita and it was agreed that all members will circulate it as widely as possible
ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON FOR 2016 – David Borer was re-elected
The next meeting is Thursday 14th January 2016 at 7:00pm.