SKETTY & KILLAY MEDICAL CENTRES'
PATIENTS' FORUM
MINUTES of the MEETING held on TUESDAY12 SEPTEMBER 2017
Present:Tyrone Lewis (TL) Chair
Stephen Clark (SC)
Ray Dancer (RD)
Bernard Evans (BE)
Peter Thomas (PT)
Dana Evans (DE)
Janet Lloyd (JL)
Rita Ford (RF)
Ann Spinks (AS)
In attendance:Dr Ian Joslin(IJ), Else Ulvi(EU) Practice Manager,
Margaret Gilroy (MG), Assistant Practice Manager
TL welcomed MG to her first meeting of the Forum
- Apologies for absence : received from Gerard Lawler
- Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 11 July 2017 were unanimously accepted having been proposed by PT and seconded by JL
- Minutes of the meeting of 11 July 2017 were unanimously accepted after being proposed by BE and seconded by SC.
- Matters arising:
Matters arising from earlier “Matters Arising”: EU reported that the in-house INR service is unlikely to begin until January 2018 with a phased introduction; staff are having awareness training and there are some software issues to be resolved.
- Patient Feedback:
The following was raised and discussed:
PT reported difficulties with telephone access to the surgeries: when a recorded message states that there are no more appointments available on that particular day
EU advised that it appeared that the message had been inadvertently changed and that she will follow this up
- Practice Services:
a.EU stated that thedates for next 12 months Forum meetings are acceptable
b.EU said that appointments are now being made for flu jabs which will be quadravalent ones to give more protection
c.IJ reported that the practice has appointed Tamsin Thomas, a previous trainee, to the staff; there are 2 new trainee GPs, Richard Gibby and Sophie Pearson who started in August for a 12 month period; the practice now has 11 partners, 3 salaried doctors and 2 trainees
d. TL complimented the practice on offering same day appointments as this is not the case in some other Swansea practices
e.DE raised the issue of “welcome” telephone messages differing between the 2 surgeries with the speed of delivery also being different. EU accepted that the messages are long and advised callers just to press 1 to get straight to the appointments access and press 2 for repeat prescriptions; however for repeat scripts, it would be better to hand in the request or to order it via “My Health on Line”
f.EU said that the practice is helping to pilot the next phase of “My Health on Line” relating to access to patients' records and is looking for volunteers to take part; several members agreed to trial this and AS offered to provide further names after checking with those concerned first
g. SC asked what happens when a letter comes from a hospital clinic to the surgery relating to a change in medication? IJ said that these are put along with scripts for a doctor to sign and activate as necessary; he advised that if a patient has a letter from the hospital, this should be handed in at the front desk, with a doctor's name on it and the nature of the contents explained to the receptionist
h.TL raised the question of what happens if a hospital clinic changes a patient's dosage of a medicine? IJ explained that such information is usually entered onto the computer by the admin staff or could be given to a GP to change; it is also dependent on what method the hospital uses to contact the surgery
iDE asked what the practices' policy is regarding to Rescue Packs? IJ explained that the practice is in favour of using these and that Dr Chris Mellor is the lead GP on chest illnesses
j.TL reported that the Co-op, via its Social Fund, is offering financial support for joint community projects eg by a surgery and a nominated group; DE will follow this up to get more details to see if we could be involved in such a project
7.Treasurer's report:
SC reported a balance of £192.99
8.Any other business:
The following items were discussed:
•Bay Health has ceased to exist at SCVS as the project time has expired
•Bay Cluster Patients' Reference Group is its replacement headed by Dr K Truman; the first meeting is on 13 October 2017; it is hoped that at that meeting terms of reference/rules will be agreed
•RF raised the matter of putting up a poster in the surgery for a MacMillan coffee morning?
EU explained that the surgery cannot put up any advertising relating to private business, but a charity is acceptable
•SC felt that notices are being put up without any clearance from staff and that Killay surgery has too many notices which lead to confusion
EU said she would check this out
•SC raised the matter of the electronic check-in at Killay as he had experienced
problems with long delays after using the system? BE had also had the same problem
EU confirmed that this is still in use but not in the afternoons
•DE raised the matter fo the Sketty carpark which has tarmac subsistence in 2 places + a missing light cover revealing bare wires
EU will investigate
•TL raised concerns re a Welsh Government initiative out for consultation on taking the Bridgend area out of ABMU and linking it to Cym Taff area; examples were cited of where this is already happening in breast and rheumatology services; clinics would move to Neath Port Talbot hospital but not the surgery aspect; complaints about this can be sent to the Assembly,
but is was felt that this could be a “fait accompli”
•TL explained the purpose of another Welsh Government white paper “Services fit for the Future” planning to abolish the 8 CHCs in Wales and to replace them with 1 body along the Scottish system; it was felt that this would lose an independent voice for patients especially relating to advocacy services. Members completed individual responses to these proposals which TL will forward to the appropriate address as individual replies are counted singly and therefore more beneficial whereas a collated reply is only counted as 1 reply
•TL reported that it is likely, as rumoured in the media, that the major trauma unit will be sited at Cardiff rather than at Morriston Hospital
9.Date of next meeting:
Tuesday 17 October 2017 at 2pm
There being no further business the meeting closed at 3.30pm
Chair:Date: