MINUTES OF THE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP MEETING
27.09.2016
PRESENT: Dr Karen Kirkham, Lennie Edwards and Chris Ingram
PPG MEMBERS PRESENT: KB, MB, NS, DH, TB, AH, PW, CS, PM, MD, PC, DB
APOLOGIES FROM PPG MEMBERS: VC, TH, SB, AP
Dr Kirkham welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their attendance. She introduced herself as Senior Partner, Lennie Edwards - Practice Manager and Chris Ingram - Medical Secretary. The PPG members introduced themselves around the table.
Staffing - Dr Kirkham explained the current situation within the Practice with regard to the inability to recruit GPs to replace those who had recently retired or moved on. She explained this was a nationwide problem and said that the present shortfall the practice was experiencing was being taken up by GP Locums. She explained that the practice tried to employ GP Locums they had had previously for continuation of care to patients. One of the PPG members asked if the practice had considered employing GP Locums on a permanent basis and Dr Kirkham said they had been approached but it was something the Locums had chosen not to do.
Dr Kirkham also announced that Dr Smithers would unfortunately be leaving the practice in December, due mainly to the distance she had to travel, but praised her work commitment and said she would be greatly missed.
Dr Kirkham explained to the meeting the way the practice was set up with regard to various roles:
· Jason Mercer is an Emergency Care Practitioner who takes on a lot of the visits mid morning so that patients are seen in a timely fashion and don’t have to wait until after morning surgery.
· The Nurse Practitioners and the roles they play in taking the pressure off the Doctors.
· The Nursing Team and the areas they cover, their skills are improving all the time and services available now would not have been available a few years ago, such as management of chronic diseases, asthma, insulin regime etc.
Sit and Wait Surgery - Dr Kirkham announced that the practice was planning a trial of a ‘Sit and Wait’ appointment system, from November onwards. Doctors would still have their usual pre-booked appointments, but patients who needed to be seen urgently on the day and could not be given an appointment would be offered to ‘Sit and Wait ‘. This would run from 11.30am – 12.30pm and would be strictly on an urgent on the day basis and was not to be used for routine appointments. The group thought this was a good idea.
Lennie explained that it was hoped an added benefit would be that the practice would be able to make more pre-booked appointments available once less on the day urgent appointments were needed.
Friends and Family Test - Dr Kirkham explained the results of the Friends and Family survey and a copy was given to each attendee (see attached). The first question is set nationally and asks patients if they would recommend the practice to their family and friends and the result of this was 93% said yes they would recommend The Bridges.
Did Not Attend (DNA) - The number of patients who do not attend for their appointment was discussed and handout of statistics was passed around the table showing the amount of Doctor and Nurse time which is lost every month. It is particularly frustrating when there is a shortage of appointments. Dr Kirkham explained that DNA appointments were always unacceptable but whatever the practice tried to do for example texting patients to remind them of their appointment etc. it did not seem to make any difference and there would always be people who DNA because of their chaotic lifestyle or other factors.
A member of PPG asked Lennie if there was any follow up to patients who did this on a regular basis. Lennie explained that she wrote to patients who DNA’d more than 3 times in a 12 month period. Chart attached.
A member of the PPG said she always found the posters that were displayed around the surgery from time to time were most informative as they clearly stated how many Doctor or Nurse hours were lost due to DNA appointments and hoped this would make people think about cancelling appointments if they did not need them.
Westhaven Hub - The purpose of the Hub was explained and Dr Kirkham said how valuable it was to have resources and professionals under one roof and to be able to access their skills, to discuss vulnerable patients and plan to provide them with the best care.
Weymouth Urgent Care Centre (UCC) - The UCC opened in July and it has amalgamated the walk-in centre and minor injuries unit. Patients are able to be seen if they have an urgent problem or an injury 8am to 10pm 7 days a week.
A member of the group asked if the practice had registered many patients from The Practice based at Weymouth hospital which had closed in June. Lennie replied that approximately 150 of their patients had been registered.
Littlemoor Surgery - It was discussed that there may be a possibility of a trial of the branch surgery at Littlemoor being closed possibly two afternoons a week in order to consolidate staff and make best use of everyone’s time. The group felt that although it wouldn’t be ideal, they trusted the practice to make the right decision based on staffing levels and knew the practice would only do it if absolutely necessary.
Phone system - Lennie reported that a new telephone system had been installed which had specific phone lines for calls in and out, which has helped free up telephone access during busy periods. The group reported that it was easier to get through on the phone and that they appreciated the welcome message being as short as possible and not having to listen to options to be able to speak to someone.
The members of the PPG were also reminded that everyone could book appointments and order prescriptions online.
Accessible Information Standard - Lennie explained that this was a new requirement for all health care providers to ask patients if they had any communication needs and to accommodate them where possible. The practice is asking patients on registration and has added a footnote to the letters it send to patients.
Next Steps - Dr Kirkham asked the group how they would like to develop and what involvement they would like to have with the practice. It was agreed that there would be 6 monthly meetings and the practice would put on health education talks.