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/ Title of Meeting: / Patient Participation Group
Time: / 1pm
Date: / 20th March 2017
Venue: / Shakespeare Road PMS
Chair: / Diane Batham (Practice Manager)

Present:

Dr A.U.H. Goni, GP

Diane Batham, Practice Manager (Chair)

Patient: DG, Receptionist

Patient: MH

Apologies:

Patient: JH

Patient: SA

Patient: AQ

Patient: TKH

Patient: AR

Patient: MA

Patient: SA

Patient: AK

Patient: IS

Patient: SK

Patient: CM

Introduction:

Practice Manager welcomed MH & DG to the meeting and gave an overview of the purpose of the meeting.

Overview of meeting:

At the last meeting we discussed and agreed three areas of priority for improvement to take forward this year and how these will be implemented by the Practice. These areas were:

  • Online Services – We would like to try to promote and engage patients into registering for online services. Patients would be able to book appointments online, order repeat prescriptions and can also request access to their detailed coded record. At present we only have 0.1% of patients accessing the online service and we have to reach at least 10% before the end of March 2016. We have posters in the waiting area, information on our website, information running on the jayex board and we have also put information onto the prescription counterfoil. All new registrations are given an online registration form to complete but we do not seem to be progressing any further. Any suggestions?

The group suggested using MJoG to send SMS messages to all patients aged 18+ inviting them to register for online services.

Action Plan from last meeting on 21st March 2017:-

As suggested by the PPG group, the practice ran a search of all patients aged 18- 60 years of age and a text message has been sent out to patients informing them that they have been registered for online services and if they wish to activate their account, they need to call into the surgery to obtain their password. We ran a new search and we now have 12.5% of patients registered for online services so we have now met the target of 10% before the end of March 2017 and we will continue to register patients as we have to reach 20% by the end of March 2018.

  • EPS – Electronic Prescribing Service – The practice would like to go live with EPS by 1st April 2017. EPS reduces the paper administration associated with current prescribing and dispensing processes by enabling prescriptions to be generated, transmitted and received electronically. Only prescriptions that are being sent to a nominated dispensing contractor from a GP practice can be signed and sent electronically so hand signed prescriptions will continue to be used for all other prescriptions. It will mean that patients will have to request their repeat prescriptions themselves from the practice. Pharmacists will not be able to request repeat medication on behalf of the patients. This will reduce wastage of medications.

The group had asked “what happens if a patient requested medication for a family member when they are not present”. The same applies to Dementia patients and carers requesting scripts - DB to speak with Rav (CCG Pharmacist Advisor)

Action Plan from last meeting on 20th March 2017:-

The practice is scheduled to go live on Tuesday 28th March 2017 with EPS – Electronic Prescribing Service. The practice had a pre-meeting on 9th February 2017 and training will be provided to staff on the go live day, Tuesday 28th March 2017.

DB spoke with the Govinder,CCG Pharmacist Advisor re the above question – “A patient/carer can still request medication on behalf of the patient, EPS only requires the patient/carer to inform the practice which chemist they wish their prescription to be sent to. Dr Goni - Third party ordering – should reject third party ordering when possible.

Patients will benefit if they are on holiday (in this country) and require a prescription, they can request a script to be sent to them via EPS.

  • Medicines Waste Campaign – NHS Rotherham CCG has launched this campaign. Patients reported that they have built up, large stock of unused medicines that they did not request from the Pharmacist, resulting in waste. These medicines cannot be stored safely and used within the expiry date causing a serious safety concern. Medicines waste costs NHS Rotherham an estimated £1.5 million every year. Reducing medicines waste allows monies to fund other local services to improve the health of the people of Rotherham. Eleven practices have already implemented this within their practice and we would like to also implement this campaign which will tie in with the EPS. Pharmacists will not be able to order medication on behalf of patients, patients will have to order their medication themselves which will result in patients only receiving their medication which they require, resulting in no wastage of medications. It is safer and more efficient. CCG will provide patient leaflets explaining the changes to ordering repeat prescriptions and they will also liaise with the Community Pharmacists informing them that our practice will be taking part in this campaign.

Action Plan from last meeting on 20th March 2017:-

In January 2017 the Community Pharmacists have been issued with a letter from NHS Rotherham CCG on behalf of the practice informing them from 1st April 2017 the practice will NOT ACCEPT any prescription requests from a pharmacy on behalf of patients. The pharmacies can still collect the prescriptions from the surgery. Patients (or their carer, nominated family member/friend) will have to order prescriptions directly from the GP practice themselves via telephone, dropping the counterfoil into the surgery, by post, or online.

AOB (any other business) or other areas discussed at the meeting:

MH enquired about our recent CQC visit. Dr Goni discussed the outcome of the report and informed the group that the practice is working through the actions that needed to be addressed. MH asked “Do the CQC welcome the practice having a PPG Group” Dr Goni informed MH that the CQC do enquire and ask for feedback from the group when visiting the practice.

Meeting Mintues

The Practice Manager informed the group that the minutes of the meeting will be circulated to the members of the group during the next two to three weeks.

PPG Report

The Practice Manager explained that the format for the PPG report this year has slightly changed again this year, we do not need to compile a final report. The minutes of the two meetings held over the year will be available to view on the Practice Website: the NHS Choices website at - select services - enter postcode or area - select Shakespeare Road Surgery. Hardcopies of the minutes will also be placed in the waiting room.

Summary:

The Practice Manager thanked the PPG members for their attendance and input into the meeting and informed the members that the next meeting would be scheduled sometime in November/December 2018.