Southwell Medical Users Group
Minutes of the eleventh AGM held at 7.30pm on Monday 7thJanuary 2013, in the Medical Centre
Present: Dr Simon Reeves, Dr Rajeev Kalia, Nigel Kenward,John Elkington, Dennis Brown, Peter Hancock, Glenys Breedon, Ted Waters, Sheila Fox, Donald Fox, Melitta Webster, Ronald Smithers, Paul Smith, Simon Pearce, Carol Tinker, Geoff Tinker, Marian Kemp, Bobby Craik, Lesley Barker and Andy Arrowsmith.
1.Welcome:The Chairman, John Elkingtonextended a warm welcome to the eleventh Annual General Meeting of SMUG.
2. Apologies: These had been received fromPat Palmer,Gillian Ramsay, Martin Lloyd,Jen Stark,Mary Dakin,Ann Smith and Sarah Angell.
3. Minutes of the 10th AGMon 9thJanuary 2012:the minutes were accepted as a true record.
4. Matters Arising: There were no matters arising.
5. Chairman’s Report –John Elkington:
John reported that the group had met four times during 2012.
He had attended a number of Stake Holder Reference Group (SRG) meetings on behalf of the Group to represent its views where appropriate. Paul Smith, the Vice Chairman, had provided cover when John was unavailable. Discussions at the SRG were often wide ranging but were mostly centred on the policy being formulated by the Newark and Sherwood Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). As reported by Dennis the CCG has almost completed the authorisation process and will be taking over from the PCT in 2013. John suggested that there was a need to keep a close eye on what the CCG were doing through the SRG as he felt that there was a distinct danger of certain services being privatised. He had expressed concern at the last AGM that issues raised at the SRG (which meets monthly) might require feedback from the wider Group. However this did not happen during 2012 although it may well do in the coming year.
Earlier in the year the Group carried out a patient survey on behalf of the Practice, over a two week period, using hand held computer devices borrowed from the PCT. This had been very successful. However, he suggested that if the exercise is to be carried out over a two week period in the future it would be better if the two weeks were not consecutive as a number of patients encountering during the second week had already been interviewed during the first week.
John noted that there had been two health education events; the first on research being carried out in to Alzheimer’s Disease given by Professor Kevin Morgan from Nottingham University; and the second on Mending Broken Hearts presented by Dr Rob Henderson from the Trent Cardiac Centre at Nottingham City Hospital. Both talks had been well received.
Following the fund raising carried out at the end of 2011 and generous donations received from the Lions and Dr Leadley and his family, a state of the art defibrillator had been purchased for the Practice.
John mentioned the two recent retirements from the Medical Centre. Dr Cottell had been involved since the formation of SMUG and had regularly represented the Practice. He was always very informative and had helped SMUG in many ways. He will be greatly missed. The collection from SMUG members was used to purchase an office chair as a retirement present for Dr Cottell. This will be presented officially when a suitable date can be arranged. The Practice Manager, David Mellor, also retired after many years of service and has been replaced by Nigel Kenward, who we welcomed at the last meeting.
John commented that as Chairman he was reliant on the help and support of the members as well as having a good working relationship with the Practice. He thanked Gillian Ramsey for continuing to organise the art displays, Peter Hancock for producing the meeting reports for the Bramley, Pat Palmer for looking after the finances, Dennis Brown for doing an excellent job as secretary, and Paul Smith for his support.
Geoff Tinker enquired if any representation had been made on behalf of SMUG during the recent East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) consultation on its proposed service redesign. He expressed grave concerns about the ability of EMAS to deliver an adequate service, particularly after hearing the responses of its CE to questions raised at a public meeting in Newark. Dennis confirmed that there had not been a response on behalf of the Group but that individual members had been encouraged to do so. Paul Smith commented that there had been a presentation by EMAS and a lively discussion at one of the SRG meetings that he had attended where the patient representatives had made their views known.
6.Secretary’s Report – Dennis Brown:
Dennis reported that the year had started with the Group having 32 members. There had been two resignations and one new member during the year, giving a current total of 31 members. The average number of members attending the four meetings during the year was 19.
Twenty one members now receive SMUG correspondence by e-mail. The other 10 are hand delivered which continues to help keep the administrative costs of the Group very low.
The membership of the National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP) had been renewed.
Due to a mix-up SMUG did not renew its registration with the Newark and Sherwood District Council under the Gambling Act 2005 for the purposes of holding lotteries. A fresh application will be made when the Group decide to hold another prize draw.
Dennis thanked Nigel Kenward, his predecessor David Mellor and other Practice Staff for making the arrangements for our use of the committee rooms during the year and for the use of the photo-copying facilities.
7. Treasurer’s Report:
In the absence of the Treasurer, Dennis presentedthe audited accounts and Pat’s report (circulated with the Agenda). Patrecorded her thanks to Martin Lloyd for auditing the accounts.
Income:£ 72.16
Expenses:£2,207.33 (including a donation of £2,000 to the Practice)
Loss for year:£2,135.17
Surplus from 2010:£ 2,921.93
Surplus carried forward:£ 786.76
The accounts for the year 2012 were adopted, proposed by Geoff Tinker and seconded by Paul Smith.
8. Election of four members to serve on the Management Committee:
The following were elected:
Gillian Ramsay, Martin Lloyd, Ann Smith, Ted Waters.
9.Notice of Proposed Change to the Constitution:
Dennis gave notice that at the next AGM he would propose a change to the Constitution to allow the members of the Management Committee to be elected for a two year term (the same as the officers) and to include the nomination of a representative to the Newark and Sherwood CCG Stakeholder Reference Group. He agreed to circulate a copy of the Constitution showing the proposed amendments with the Minutes of the AGM.
10.Any other business:
The following future meeting dates were provisionally agreed.
Monday 8 April 2013
Monday 1 July 2013
Monday 7 October 2013
Monday 6 January 2014
It was agreed that the start time for the meetings should be 7:00pm and that the meetings should finish by 8:30pm. After some discussion it was agreed to try holding one meeting during the afternoon.
11.Closing: The AGM was closed at 8:0pm.
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