Patient Group, 13/07/2017 1

Richard welcomed all to the meeting.

Telephone Message:

Practice would like to introduce a new telephone message. Richard plans to have Dr Twomey reading the new message, which will be similar to New Valley and a number of other Mid Devon Practice telephone messages. There are two reasons for the change:

·  Messages from a GP carry more weight with patients especially when suggesting the use of things like “Pharmacy First” as an alternative and the receptionist asking patients for the reason for their call.

·  Alignment with New Valley will help prepare the community if the new surgery becomes a reality.

Feedback from the meeting preferred a softer message which flows. It was questioned whether the 999 message needs to be included.
Post Meeting Note: Including 999 is part of a Devon Doctors / NHS England “gold standard” message.

Extended Hours

We offer GP appointments on Monday and Friday from 7.30am to 8am and Thursday from 6.30pm – 7.20pm. We also offer nurse appointments on Tuesday from 6.30pm – 7.20pm. To ensure we provide our quota following Dr Murphy’s retirement we plan to offer more HCA and Nurse appointments instead. The view of the group was that whilst GP appointments are important the opportunity to have blood tests etc. done after work would be very beneficial.

Running to Time

Following on from previous meetings we are trying out ideas to help the surgery run to time. We have recently switched from 14 face to face consultations followed by 8 telephone consults in the morning to a model where in each hour the GP has 3 – 4 face to face and two telephone consults. The early monitoring suggested that surgeries finished closer to time. Feedback on the new system to the next meeting.

Reminder that the receptionist has a role in helping manage the waiting room.

Making the most of your appointment

The meeting discussed the production of a leaflet to encourage patients to have a clear idea of what they wanted to cover in their consultation. The expert patient programme leaflet was considered, it has a 10 point list. The following were felt to be important:

·  What is my priority for this visit?

·  What do I need to tell the Doctor (problem / signs / symptoms)

·  What do I need to know from the Doctor

·  What am I doing to help myself

It was suggested that the screen messages be used to promote the initiative. The approach was being tried to enable patients to get the most from a time limited appointment.

Patient Self Care: Managing Blood Pressure

The LoF supported an open evening encouraging the use of home BP machines to improve the accuracy of annual BP measurement (avoiding white coat syndrome). A leaflet has been produced to encourage the correct recording of BP and an online calculator. It was noted that it was really important to get all the messages aligned – on the website, the leaflet and the calculator. Action: Richard.

New Premises Consultation

We have completed a Business Case for a new joint surgery to support our funding application to the NHS Estates, Technology and Transformation Fund. The business case will go forward to the NHS once NHS rules change to allow new build projects. Once we have submitted the business case NHS locally have indicated that they will be in position to provide pre project costs. At this stage the Architect will want to meet with the staff and patient group to help inform the building design. Richard will arrange a meeting for the Patient group to consider when the time is right.

Mid Devon Patient Panel

There was nothing new to raise at the Mid Devon Patient Panel meeting. Access to dental and physio have been raised and continue to be a problem.

AOB

None

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