Patient Participation Group Meeting s6

Meadowbrook Road Surgery

Patient Participation Group Meeting

Thursday 19th October 2017

12.00pm – 2.00pm

Venue – Coffee Cups, Thornhill Road, Halesowen

No
1 / Attendees
Dr F Matin – GP Meadowbrook Surgery
Andrew Manning – Practice Manager Meadowbrook Surgery
Debbie Armstrong – Medical Secretary Meadowbrook Surgery
Carol Matthews – Prescriptions Meadowbrook Surgery
Davan Eustace – Pharmacist Meadowbrook Surgery
David Webster – Regional Driving assessment Centre
Emily Jones – Occupational Therapist, Regional Driving Assessment Ctr
Vivian Kerry – Halesowen Governor Dudley Group Foundation Trust
Margaret Allsop - Patient
Margaret Barge – Patient
Paul Boxley - Patient
Anthony Brettle - Patient
Marian Brettle – Patient
David Burke - Patient
Kathryn Rudge – Patient
Jayne Stevens - Patient
Celia Tooth – Patient
John Tooth – Patient
Helen Tromans - Patient
John Tromans – Patient
Apologies
Jane Beard – Patient
Katharine Scully – Patient
Elaine Stevenson – Patient
Mark Stevenson – Patient
Shirley Turner - Patient
2 / Welcome
Andrew Manning welcomed all to the meeting and thanked Coffee Cups for hosting the event and providing the catering. A copy of the minutes from the previous meeting and a meeting agenda was issued.
Apologies received were announced and noted.
3 / Regional Driving Assessment Centre (RDAC)
Andrew Manning introduced David Webster (Approved Driving Instructor Regional Driving Assessment Centre) and Emily Jones (Occupational Therapist Regional Driving Assessment Centre) and thanked them for attending the meeting.
Andrew Manning outlined that concerns about safe driving were regularly raised by patients and their families at the surgery.
The law requires an individual to tell DVLA about any medical condition that may affect their ability to drive safely. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and is punishable by fine of up to £1000.
RDAC delivered a presentation which covered the following areas:
·  The Company - The Regional Driving Assessment Centre has been in existence since 1998 and is one of 17 driving assessment centres throughout the country. They are an accredited member of the Forum of Mobility Centres. They help in excess of 1000 people a year, most of whom are able to either continue driving, return to driving or begin driving for the first time.
·  Mission – Their aim is to help older and disabled people achieve a better quality of life by helping them to maintain or regain independent mobility as drivers, passengers, scooter or wheelchair users. The primary function is driving assessment. They also offer practical advice on adaptations and tuition if required.
·  RDAC primarily deal with individuals with a progressive condition which may affect their driving (e.g. Dementia, Diabetes, Stroke etc.) but can see anyone who feels that they would benefit from an independent driving review.
·  The car driving assessment is not a driving test. This is an assessment to look at the ability to keep the individual, their passengers and other road users safe.
·  This type of assessment is ideal for clients who are able to access a car unaided, who may or may not require adaptations to their car.
·  The assessment is conducted by a driving adviser (a specially trained driving instructor) and if appropriate an occupational therapist.
·  An initial consultation determines a person’s requirements. A physical assessment will identify any limitations which could affect the ability to operate standard controls of a vehicle, and possible adaptations to enable a person to drive more safely or comfortably. The law requires individuals to read a number plate at 20 metres. Any other visual impairment may require further investigation.
·  The test drive is designed to gauge reactions to standard driving conditions. The route is designed to check that a person is in full control of the vehicle, they are aware of what is going on around them and they are able to make safe decisions.
·  At the end of the assessment RDAC advise what a person should do next and wherever possible they will make recommendations to improve either the vehicle control or a person’s technique in order for them to return to safe driving.
·  If the assessment determines that a person is no longer safe to drive by law they should advise the DVLA.
·  RDAC do not have the authority to revoke a driving licence. Only DVLA can do this. In extreme circumstances they can report cases to DVLA direct if a person is found to be a serious risk to themselves, their passenegers, other road users and pedestrians.
·  The cost of a self assessment is subsidised by the Centre and costs £80.00. However a referral from a GP at Meadowbrook Surgery would reduce the cost to £40. Patients/Family members with concerns about driving should arrange an appointment with a doctor with a view to arranging a referral.
An interactive ‘Questions and Answers’ session took place after the presentation and included discussions on the following points:
·  Night driving
·  Impact of cataracts on driving
·  Regulations relating to mobility vehicles
·  The follow up process for deteriorating/declining conditions.
·  Referral timescales – approximately 6 week waiting list
·  Provision of reports to the driver and GP (where applicable)
Action – Andrew Manning to arrange for RDAC to provide posters and leaflets for display in the surgery. All surgery staff to be informed of service to ensure that patients can be directed to RDAC and referred when appropriate.
4 / Dudley CCG Prescribing Policy
Andrew Manning welcomed Davan Eustace, Pharmacist Meadowbrook Surgery to the patient meeting. She delivered a presentation on the revised prescribing guidelines introduced by Dudley CCG on 1st August 2017.
The key points covered were as follows:
·  Public consultation took place between March and May 2017.
·  332 public responses. 96.7% of people completing the survey lived in the Dudley borough. 76.5% agreed with the proposal to stop prescribing over the counter treatments and medicines listed for short term minor ailments or where there is insufficient evidence of clinical benefit or cost effectiveness.
·  With current strains on NHS budgets it is important to ensure the limited resources are spent effectively for patient care. Therefore there are new restrictions on medicines of limited or no clinical value (e.g. supplements, cough mixtures, certain pain relief, vitamins etc) being prescribed by GPs.
·  Some minor ailments such as coughs, sore throats and head lice do not require a GP or nurse appointment. Medicines for these conditions can be bought from pharmacies, supermarkets and other high street stores. Pharmacists and other trained staff are experts on providing advice on minor ailments and are easier to access without an appointment.
·  GPs spend on average £5000 every single day seeing patients who have minor ailments that could be treated with remedies bought from a pharmacy or supermarket.
·  Some patients will receive notification from the surgery that they will no longer be able to obtain prescriptions for certain items that they may have previously requested. In future they will need to purchase such items over the counter.
·  These prescribing changes are being phased in over the next few months. A full policy review will be undertaken by Dudley CCG after 6 months to assess the impact of the changes.
·  The total potential savings will be £1.1 million per annum which can be reinvested into other clinical services across the area.
Meeting attendees were asked if they understood and appreciated the new policy. All confirmed that they now did.
It was recommended that a text message could be sent to make patients aware of the minor ailment scheme and for a message to be placed on the
TV screen. Andrew Manning confirmed that he would action these suggestions.
Action – Text message to be sent promoting minor ailments scheme. Also details to be added to the waiting room TV screen.
Electronic Repeat Dispensing
This is a service available to some patients which would remove the need for them to request repeat prescriptions on a monthly basis. If appropriate the surgery can issue a batch of repeatable prescriptions, for example for 6 months, which are sent electronically to their pharmacy.
Once the service is set up it is much more convenient for patients because unless their condition changes, they will not need to contact the surgery so regularly to reorder their prescription. They can instead just go straight to their nominated pharmacy. When the last prescription of a batch is issued the pharmacy will advise the patient to contact the surgery to request a further batch of prescriptions.
Andrew Manning invited any patients who were interested in the scheme to contact the surgery to book an appointment with Davan Eustace (Meadowbrook Surgery Pharmacist) to see if the service can be set up for them.
5 / Halesowen Governor Dudley Group Foundation Trust
Viv Kerry introduced herself to the attendees as the local governor for Halesowen.
She was originally from East Sussex but has lived and worked in the Halesowen area for 13 years.
During an open evening at the hospital Viv saw the great work that is carried out by staff across the trust and felt that she would like to help the local communities. As a result she was elected as a governor to represent the views of the people across Halesowen.
Viv provided an overview of her role and an update on some of the successful initiatives progressed by the governors e.g. new wheelchairs at Russells Hall Hospital.
She advised that she would welcome feedback from anyone using the services of the local hospitals covering the Dudley area. This can then be used at meetings that she attends.
Additionally Viv is a dementia friend and works as a volunteer at Mary Stevens Hospice.
Contact details
Telephone number – 01384 321124
Email:
6 / Meadowbrook Surgery
Minutes from the previous meeting were agreed and Andrew Manning provided an update on a number of surgery issues:
·  Friends and Family Test – This is an important feedback tool that supports the fundamental principle that people who use NHS services should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience. It asks people if they would recommend the services they have used and offers a range of responses.
During the last 12 months Meadowbrook Surgery have received 3000 pieces of feedback which has shown that 95% of patients would recommend the surgery to others.
·  Hearing Loss – As a result of suggestions made by patients at the previous meeting Andrew Manning confirmed that a Hearing Loss video was now being displayed on the TV in the waiting room. This would help promote the importance of taking care to avoid loud noises etc.
·  Bowel Cancer Screening – Positive feedback was given by attendees in relation to the presentation at the previous meeting. A number of patients reported that since the meeting they have received letters inviting them to be screened.
·  Urine Testing – At the previous meeting patients assessed and tested the new urine collection devices introduced for albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR test). Feedback from this session had been communicated through the Dudley Practice Managers Alliance. Other surgeries provided similar negative feedback and some had decided not to use the devices. It is uncertain whether any changes will be made but this is now out of the surgeries control. Andrew Manning advised the meeting that the surgery will continue to issue the new devices but will allow patients to use the more traditional urine specimen bottle if necessary.
·  Did Not Attend Policy – Andrew Manning confirmed that last week had been a very disappointing week with 25 DNAs. He confirmed that where appropriate patients are being challenged about their DNA level. A recent example was shared where an individual had DNAd 11 times in 2 years.
This continues to be a very emotive area with some patients getting angry/upset when challenged but Andrew Manning confirmed that the surgery would not avoid confronting the issue.
·  Staffing – It was confirmed that the surgery had employed 2 new staff members since the previous meeting which has enabled them to provide better resourcing throughout the day to improve telephone answering times.
The new staff members are Liz Poole and Sharon Parker. They both have many years experience having worked in other care and pharmacy settings.
·  Patient Incident – A concern was raised about an incident that had been reported to a member of the PPG. It related to an elderly lady who had a fall outside and was brought into the surgery. She had a cut to the head which was bleeding badly. Feedback was given that the surgery had advised the lady and her husband that they were unable to help. She was directed to Murrays Pharmacy in Thornhill Road for treatment. The meeting were advised that the pharmacist attended to the lady and advised her to go to hospital.
Andrew Manning advised that he was not aware of this incident but was obviously concerned to hear about it. He committed to investigate the event and report back to the PPG.
Action – Andrew Manning to provide feedback at the next meeting.
·  Halas Homes – A suggestion was made to improve the area outside the surgery with a small flower bed. This would be similar to the one outside Coffee Cups and would be maintained by the team at Halas. All attendees were in favour of this and Andrew Manning agreed to discuss it at the next meeting with the doctors.
Action – Andrew Manning to provide feedback at the next meeting.
8 / Confirmation was provided that minutes of the meeting would be issued in due course.
Andrew Manning thanked everyone for taking the time to attend and for their valued contribution.
The next planned meeting will be in February 2018 and invitations would be issued nearer the time.
Meeting Closed – 2.00pm

Page | 2