Riverside Surgery Patient Participation Group (PPG)

Minutes of meeting on Tuesday 19th February 2013 at 7.00pm

Present: Dr Lorenz Kemper (LK), SS (Chair), Carol Wotherspoon (Managing Partner) (CW), KK, MR, TH, AJ, SSt,GW,

Absent: KP

1 / Welcome
2 / Agenda

Confirmation of Minutes & Matters Arising
SSt
LINk representative
Antibiotics
IT update
Frequency of meetings
AOB

3 / Matters Arising from previous Minutes dealt with below:-

It was agreed that the next meeting would be the AGM
The Charity initiative would be investigated further
This PPG is still to meet with the Tower House PPG, which has been in existence for some years. There had been a meeting between the two practices involving all Partners & staff (about 30 in all) in the Riverside Waiting Room. Discussion had been on a) Equality & Diversity training; b) Chaperone training & c) Information Governance & social media. CW had opened a Twitter account as a quick means of communicating with people on such things as flu days & snow days, etc.
The only thing that recurred on the Survey had been the length of time in the waiting room prior to seeing a doctor. TH suggested that a clock might help as people’s perception of time was often flawed. In many cases, people worry about the car park. There was to be a Prescriptions meeting to improve the whole system of repeat prescriptions, which can also be done via the website.
CW said that the aim of up to 6 people answering the 8 lines between 8-8.30am had been achieved. People will get through eventually, but it is much quicker if they avoid this half hour.
The Practice photographs & names were still being worked on.

4 / Sue Stuart – Sue Stuart introduced herself to the group. Her background was in education & teaching. She had retrained in exercise teaching. She got her PhD at BucksUniversity and now works for Bucks Adult Learning. Her interests are in ageing & in physical exercise & she is keen to ascertain how people feel about these & is surveying people who go to her exercise classes & identify how the messages have got out. She began with the 50+ age group & is keen to get interviews up & running. Do the instructors (usually younger) have the same aim? How does one get the message across to new people? CW said that the NHS Health Checks (originally for 50 – 60 year olds) have now gone down to 40+.
5 / LINk – This appears similar to PPGs. We wrote to them when initially setting up the PPG but had never received a response.
6 / Antibiotics: LK was keen on patient education in this regard. Patients have a huge expectation of their effectiveness & we had been a high prescribing practice, but it is on the practice agenda to cut these right down. The doctors are constantly under patient pressure to prescribe them, but are now trying to prescribe only when absolutely necessary.
7 / IT Update: There is a lot in the pipeline. There will be text messaging information & a patient call system set up in the waiting room. They will be directed to Room Numbers (which will be on all the doors) for their appointments & will also be advised of time delays for the various doctors. CW had investigated texting in regard to appointments. However, just prior to going with one system, she had enquired about servers. All servers at Riverside are held in a secure data warehouse in London & it turned out the two systems would not integrate. She is now investigating another, but it might be the only one we can currently use. They are also looking at the check in information, but have to be careful due to data protection. The Practice Website will have links which will go into the patient’s own records. One can then look at one’s own prescriptions.
8 / Carol’s News: There is a new appointment beginning on 2 April. Her name is Sukhveer Saini & she currently lives & works in West Bromwich. She has been studying for an accountancy examination & is very intelligent & very nice. She has worked in Primary Care and has stepped in when someone was on holiday. CW’s official retirement date is 28 June, but she plans to go on half time in May if Sukhveer is ready. CW is sure everyone will be delighted with her.
9 / Newsletter Input: SS agreed to write contributions for the next Newsletter – including a photograph of her. Others would be quite willing to list ways in which their experiences might aid the Practice.
10 / Frequency of Meetings: After discussion, it was agreed to hold these on a quarterly basis.
11 / Actions
Newsletter PPG input (when new one done)SS + all PPG invited
Survey Ongoing & Website regular updatesCW & LK
Next flu dayKK will againrepresent
Any other Business: There was none.
12 / Date and Chair for next PPG meeting

Date: Tuesday 22 May 2013 at 7pm Chair: Saima Saif
Agenda: To be confirmed by Chair – will include Survey

13 / SS thanked everyone for their time.