MINUTES OF THE
MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 24TH JUNE 2010
Present: Ann
Adeney (Chair & Broom Green) Ted Sansom (Secretary &
Worthing) Phil Astley (Gressenhall) Jim Eagle
(Gressenhall) John Mallen (Bawdeswell) Ken Walton (Foxley) Alan
Mackim (North Elmham) Kate Wyatt (North Elmham)
Anne Cleverley
(Horningtoft)
From the
Practice: Dr. I. Jennings Judith Wood (Practice Manager)
1.
Apologies For Absence
Apologies for
absence had been received from David Sanders, Roger Thorneley
and Jean St. Clair.
2.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
The Minutes of the
last meeting of the Elmham PPG held on Thursday, 15th
April 2010 having
been circulated to all members, were approved by all present.
Ann Adeney apologised for the confusion which had arisen
concerning the date of the June meeting which was due to both
her and the Chairman mistaking the date for an Eastern England
PPG Conference for an Elmham PPG meeting!
3.
Matters Arising
There were no
matters arising from the previous Minutes which could not be
dealt with during the course of the Agenda
4.
Elmham PPG – Chairmanship
Ann Adeney informed
the meeting that, due to family pressures, David Sanders wished
to relinquish the Chairmanship of the Elmham PPG with immediate
effect. She further advised that, subject to the agreement of
the membership, as Vice Chair she was prepared to continue to
act as Chair until after the Public Meeting programmed for
Thursday, 14th October next. However, she wished to
make it clear that she did not wish to continue in the position
of Chair beyond the October date and urged the membership to
give serious thought to the election of a new Chair.
It was agreed by
all present that Ann’s offer to continue to act as Chair until
after the Public Meeting in October was the best way forward.
David Sanders’ resignation was noted with regret but the hope
was expressed that his membership of the Group, which extended
over many years, would continue
5.
Public Meeting – October 2010
A firm date of
Thursday, 14th October 2010 had now been set for the
Public Meeting. Ted Sansom would arrange to advise the Elmham
School Secretary of this date and ensure that the School Hall
was available for our use on that date. Nearer the time, it
might be necessary to provide some assistance to the School
Caretaker in setting up the Hall.
Long and earnest
discussion took place concerning the Public Meeting; salient
points of note being as follows:
·
Ann Adeney proposed that the August meeting of the Elmham
PPG should be postponed until Thursday, 9th September
2010. This would place our regular meeting closer to the date of
the Public Meeting when “final arrangements” could be
advised/discussed. This was agreed by all present. Ted Sansom to
advise School of change of date.
·
In view of the deadline dates for submission of articles
to be included in Parish magazines etc. an immediate
Preliminary Notice should be prepared and submitted
for early notification. Ted Sansom to prepare and discuss with
Ann Adeney/Judith Wood
·
Ann Adeney tabled a draft note she had prepared which
was an attempt to produce some sort of “eye-catching”slogan for
the Public Meeting but invited all members to submit their own
ideas to the PPG Secretary for consideration.
·
The Secretary read out a list of those Parish
magazines/newsletters that he had in his possession and their
editorial contacts. Phil Astley advised that the contact person
named for Gressenhall had changed but that he would ascertain
the name of the new contact and advise the PPG Secretary
accordingly.
·
It was felt that contact should be made with every Parish
Council that was within the catchment area of Elmham Surgery.
This information could be obtained from the Breckland District
Council website. In addition, contact should be made with
village websites wherever these existed e.g. North Elmham
·
The Sub Group, formed to press forward with arrangements
for the Public Meeting, should continue. Judith Wood would
finalise arrangements for a guest speaker to address the Public
Meeting.
6.
Members’ Items
Kate Wyatt referred
to a situation she had personally experienced recently whereby
she had obtained a prescription for a new type of surgical
stocking, only to be informed by the Pharmacy at the Surgery
that it was an item that was not stocked and could not be
obtained. She had to go to Dereham to secure the item and to be
informed that they could not understand why the Elmham Surgery
could not have obtained it for her. Judith Wood made a note to
check the circumstances with the Practice pharmacy.
John Mallen stated
that somebody had queried with him why it was necessary for all
the lights to be on at Swanton Morley Surgery even on the
brightest of days and even in rooms that were not occupied?
Judith undertook to look into this matter and to take action,
with the proviso that no contravention of Health & Safety
regulations would thereby take place.
Phil Astley quoted
a situation where he had recently been sent for an X-Ray and had
been advised to make an appointment to see his GP. This he had
duly done immediately on his return home. However, the Surgery
had subsequently contacted him asking him to make an appointment
to follow up on his X-Ray results. Judith explained that there
was an audit system in operation at the Practice whereby anybody
that had been referred to hospital, say for an X-Ray as in this
case, was followed up on. Dr. Jennings explained that very often
the results of things such as X-Rays did not get through to the
Surgery and in consequence the Surgery might not have any
knowledge of what had happened; plus the fact that not everybody
does what Phil had done i.e. made a follow-up appointment to
discuss the results of his tests. Because of this, what might
appear to be a waste of money and time, was in fact essential to
ensure that patients’ needs were dealt with efficiently and
promptly. Dr. Jennings pointed out that where a patient had used
the Out of Hours Service, a report was available to the Practice
first thing the next day, however, if a patient had used an A&E
department at a hospital the Practice would have no knowledge of
the treatment received by that patient – unless of course,
advised by the patient themselves.
7.
Practice Items
Judith advised the
meeting that the next quarter of the GP Survey results had been
published. The Practice were again submitting a bid for a
Quality Practice Award. This would entail conducting a number of
face to face interviews with patients
She further advised
that the Practice had received authorisation for the funding of
a nurse who would be able to consider the needs of patients in
their Care Homes.
It was hoped that
patients suffering from glaucoma would soon be able to attend a
local clinic for treatment.
Dr. Jennings
reported that the Practice were about to employ an additional
doctor with effect from circa July. No progress had been made on
finding a new Partner for the Practice even though there had
been two attempts to do so. The reasons for this were manifold
e.g. unable to find candidates of the right standard; young
doctors were not particularly keen on entering into Partnerships
etc. etc. In the meantime the Practice would continue to manage
with three Partners even though this considerably increased the
workload on the three incumbents
Judith reported
that the neurological clinic had not materialised as well as was
hoped, mainly due to transport difficulties.
8.
Any Other Business
There being no
other business to transact the meeting closed at approx. 20.40
with a vote of thanks to the Chair.
9.
Date & Time of Next Meeting
N.B The next
Meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held at Elmham School on
Thursday, 9th September 2010 commencing at 7.30p.m.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 15TH APRIL
2010
Present: David Sanders (Chairman & Whissonsett),
Ann Adeney (Vice Chair & Broom Green),
John Mallen (Bawdeswell),
Jim Eagle (Gressenhall), Ken Walton (Foxley),
Phil Astley (Gressenhall),
Roger Thorneley(Worthing), Jean St. Clair (Gressenhall),
Ted Sansom (Worthing &
Secretary).
From the Practice: Dr. S. Hibberd & Judith Wood.
1.
Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence had been received
from Anne Cleverley and Alan Mackim.
2.
Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 11th February
2010 Minute No.4.2
For greater clarification this Minute
should read as follows:
Norfolk Community Health & Care
The Chairman briefed the meeting on
recent developments concerning the Provider Arm
of NHS Norfolk (the PCT). This is being
hived off as a separate entity called
Norfolk
Community Health & Care (NHCH).
NHCH has appointed an interim Chairman and will appoint Board
Members. Its aim is to
seek full Foundation Trust status. It
will then provide all the Primary Health & Care
services previously provided by the
PCT, from emergency dentistry to podiatry. These
services will be commissioned by the
PCT. The PCT can also commission services from
Private Health Care Providers, where
appropriate.
More information about NHCH and
Foundation Trusts can be found on the NHS Norfolk
Website,
www.norfolk.nhs.uk or
www.nhs.uk
Subject to the above amendment, the
Minutes of the Elmham PPG meeting held on
Thursday, 11th February 2010
were approved by all present.
3.
Matters Arising.
(i)
Dental Clinic
Judith Wood reported that negotiations
concerning this matter had come to a halt and that it was now
very unlikely that a Dental Clinic would open at the Elmham
Surgery, at least for the foreseeable future. Judith further
explained that the Company, with whom negotiations were
conducted, had been unable to secure funding from the NHS and
had to withdraw. Dr. Hibberd stated that the Partners were very
disappointed with this outcome and had tried very hard to
establish an alternative path but the plain truth was that the
NHS cannot assist and that Norfolk PCT have no money to support
this type of enterprise. Roger Thorneley asked whether this was
a reflection of funding squeeze and it was felt by the Practice
members present that indeed this might well be a sign of “things
to come”
(ii)
Integrated Care Project
There was nothing further to report on
this item.
4.
Public Meeting
The Chairman opened the discussion under
this heading by explaining why the Sub-Committee, formed to deal
with the arrangements for the Public Meeting, had seen fit to
cancel the meeting, scheduled to be held on 22nd
April 2010. It was felt that insufficient work had been done in
respect of organising the meeting and that with the General
Election now programmed for 6th May next, it may
have proved difficult to respond to any questions raised at such
a Public Meeting. However, the intention was to continue to hold
such a meeting and a new date, corresponding to the date of our
October meeting i.e. Thursday, 14th October had been
pencilled in. Judith Wood confirmed that she had lined up some
speakers to address the Public Meeting and it was agreed that
the Sub-Committee should continue to meet on a regular basis
between now and the October date. This matter would appear as a
regular item on our Meeting Agendas between now and then.
5.
Members Items
(i)
Car Parking at Elmham
Surgery
The Secretary reported that subsequent to
the last meeting, he had written to the Editor(s) of the Elmham
News requesting that a notice be placed in their publication
urging people to park diligently when attending the Surgery,
particularly when parking on the Public Highway. It was
considered that this notice should also be sent to other parish
newsletters etc. throughout the Surgery’s catchment area. Long
discussion ensued on this subject with various opinions being
expressed as to how best to tackle the problem. Initially, it
was agreed that the best approach would be to try persuasion
i.e. to endeavour to get people to recognise that there was a
great potential for a serious accident to occur because of the
restriction of sight lines when exiting the Surgery car park.
In addition to this the Secretary would
make contact with the Community Support WPC and request that
some occasional police presence in the area might assist to
solve the problem. If this approach did not work, then
ultimately
an approach to the Highways Authority
requesting the provision of double yellow lines might prove to
be the only way forward. However, it was recognised that this
would involve a lengthy process.
(ii)
Duplication of
Appointments
It was noted that there had been some
recent “blips” in the duplication of appointments. Judith
requested that any such future “blips” should be brought to her
attention as quickly as possible in order that she could carry
out an audit on the system.
(iii) Economic Constraints
In view of the current economic
difficulties the Practice members were asked whether there had
been any indications given as to how and where cut-backs in
expenditure might occur. Dr. Hibberd responded by stating that
the general public would probably know about any such cut-backs
before doctors. He was able to report that there was to be a
reduction in the amount of work undertaken by the NNUH and that
he fully expected to see a freeze on posts and a raising of the
bar as far as the provision of social services. Quite what the
affect would be on the Surgery’s activities it was difficult to
say at this stage. The Practice operated on a system of what
could be termed a “hard budget” i.e. it received a sum of money
from the PCT for the provision of medical services within the
Surgery’s operating area and according to its patient roll
(which currently stood at approx.8700 No.). A question was asked
about a proposal, made by one political party, concerning
boundary changes, which would allow a patient who lives in North
Elmham but works in Norwich to register with a GP Practice in
Norwich. It was difficult to envisage how this would in fact
work in practice.
(iv)
Patient Records & “Who is
my GP?”
Ken Walton raised the question of “who is
my GP?” It would seem that the NNUH does not recognise that Dr.
Strickland has retired! What concerned him was the fact that if
the NNUH still forwarded papers, reports etc. marked for the
attention of Dr. Strickland, what system was in place at the
Surgery to ensure that these were channelled swiftly to the
doctor now responsible for that patient? The discussion
developed on from there to the question of patient
confidentiality in general.
Dr. Hibberd acknowledged that the NNUH had
not crossed the change of Dr. Stricklands’s retirement but
wished to assure the meeting that procedures were in place to
make certain that the doctor now treating a patient at Elmham
Surgery received all hospital reports etc. relevant to that
patient, as soon as they were received. Such correspondence was
scanned at the point of opening. If it is not scanned then Dr.
Hibberd and Judith recognised that there would be a problem
(Judith made a note to look at these scanning procedures).
Judith also informed the meeting that all staff are required to
sign a Confidentiality Clause in their contract of employment
and that Nurse Practitioners have certain protocols that they
must follow.
6.
Practice Items
Judith brought to the attention of the
meeting details of a Conference that was to be held in June in
Cambridge concerning PPG Groups. The Secretary advised that
members had been circulated with details of this Conference.
Judith reported on a letter she had
received from a lady residing in North Elmham to enquire whether
the PPG could assist in any way with the formation of a
Voluntary Car Scheme. John Mallen stated that in Bawdeswell,
where such a scheme was already in operation because there were
no bus routes operating, the scheme was licenced and organised
by Breckland District Council and he surmised that the same
conditions would apply to North Elmham.
Both Dr. Hibberd and Judith commented on
the recent increase in the number of complaints received from
patients about not being able to see a doctor of their choice at
a time of their choosing. Judith advised that the Surgery
operated a system whereby a number of slots were kept available
each day for same day appointments and that every effort was
made to ensure that patients requests were met. However, PPG
members were encouraged to “spread the word” that not every
specific request could be accommodated.
7.
Any Other Business
Interest was expressed in the Minutes of
the Swanton Morley and Watton PPGs that had been circulated to
all members. It was agreed that we would continue to supply both
those PPGs with copies of our Minutes.
There being no other business to transact the Meeting closed
at approx. 9.05 p.m. with a vote of thanks to the
Chair
8.
Date & Time of Next Meeting
The
next meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held at Elmham School on
Thursday, 24th June 2010
commencing at 7.30 p.m.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY,
11TH FEBRUARY 2010
Present: David
Sanders (Chairman & Whissonsett), Ann Adeney (Vice Chair & Broom
Green),
Phil Astley
(Gressenhall), Jim Eagle (Gressenhall), Anne Cleverley (Horningtoft),
Jean St. Clair
(Gressenhall), Roger Thorneley (Worthing), Kate Wyatt (North
Elmham),
Alan Mackim
(North Elmham), Ted Sansom (Secretary & Worthing).
From the Practice: Dr. S.
Hibberd & Judith Wood
1. Apologies
for Absence
Apologies for absence
had been received from John Mallen & Ken Walton.
2. Minutes
of the Last Meeting
The Minutes of the last
meeting of the Elmham PPG, held on Thursday, 10th
December 2009,
having been circulated to all
the members, were approved by all present.
3. Matters
Arising
3.1 Progress Report on
Dental Clinic
Judith Wood advised the
meeting of the current position relating to the opening of a
Dental Clinic at the Practice. Roger Thorneley asked why it had
taken so long to get this project off the ground? Judith
responded by stating that the company with whom the Practice
were in negotiation, were classified as a “Start-Up Company or
Social Enterprise Company” and had experienced some difficulty
with their financing; these difficulties had now been overcome
and negotiations with them would re-start in April of this year.
When pushed to give an expected opening date for a Dental Clinic
at the Elmham Practice, Judith stated that it would be
unrealistic to expect this before early 2011.
3.2. Progress
Report on Integrated Care
Dr. Hibberd was
able to give a much more up-beat message on this subject than
previously.
He explained that the Norfolk
County Council had recently appointed a young man who had been
charged with the executive responsibility of pulling together
all the various strands of this project i.e. clinical, social
and administrative. His appointment had shown some immediate
results and it now looked certain that the Integrated Care
Project would be adopted in the Dereham area. The North Norfolk
was now looking to adopt the same type of scheme.
The Elmham PPG welcomed this
news and it was gratifying to note that the Elmham Practice had
played a major part in developing, piloting and bringing this
Scheme to the position it had now reached.
4.
NHS/PCT
Matters
4.1
New
Patient Rights
The Chairman advised the
meeting of some research he had recently undertaken on the
Internet concerning papers
published by the NHS relating to New Patient Rights and informed
all present that these were available on line should anybody
wish to find out more about them?
Dr. Hibberd and Judith Wood
stated that they did not think that these new Patient Rights
would
impact upon the Practice in
any way but Judith undertook to advise the PPG of any changes as
when information is supplied to her by the NHS.
4.2.
Norfolk Community Health & Care
The Chairman briefed the
meeting on recent developments concerning Community Health &
Care in Norfolk with particular reference to the fact that the
PCT was to operate under a Trust status. It was not fully
understood how this would affect the commissioning of services
within Norfolk – if at all – but it was important to note and
monitor any changes.
5.
Proposed Public Meeting
Long discussion took place
concerning the proposed Public Meeting, which was provisionally
booked for 22nd April 2010. In the main this
discussion centred around two issues; whether the April date was
the best date to hold such a meeting in view of the fact that a
General Election would be due at around that time and also the
aim and purpose of such a Public Meeting. In summary the meeting
decided that: -
·
April was probably the best date
·
A small Working Party should be set
up to finalise the arrangements
·
Judith Wood would arrange for
somebody to speak on behalf of the PCT
·
There should be speakers from both
the Practice and the PPG
·
A “theme” needed to be decided upon
in order to attract as many people as
possible to the meeting
It was recognised that great
thought needed to be given to the promotion of this Public
Meeting and that time was running short in order to prepare for
it. The North Elmham website was proposed as one important means
of advertising the event.
6.
Members Items
Alan Mackim informed the
meeting that he had recently been in conversation with a local
parishioner who had asked him
whether “something was going on” at the Surgery. The individual
had not raised a specific problem but was expressing a general
feeling of unease.
Dr. Hibberd responded by
assuring the meeting “that there was nothing going on” and felt
that the feeling of unease had been created by the changes,
which had occurred over the past 12 months particularly in the
area of Doctors and Practice Nurses. The Practice now employed
60 No. people and the aim was to ensure that a period of
stability was established.
Phil Astley raised the
question of car parking at the Surgery premises, with particular
reference to more and more people parking on the public highway,
which was creating a dangerous situation for cars exiting the
Surgery car park. All present agreed that this was an escalating
Problem. A letter from the PPG
to the North Elmham Parish Council and to the various parish
magazines/newsletters, urging people to think about their
“parking behaviour” when visiting the Surgery, would be
appropriate.
Ted Sansom reported that
Judith Wood had advised him and the Secretary of the Swanton
Morley PPG, that the Practice Manager at Watton had made an
approach to enquire whether the PPGs at North Elmham and Swanton
Morley would be interested in forming some sort of association
e.g. for representatives from each PPG to visit each others
meetings. Ted Sansom also reported that he had been contacted by
the Chairman of the Swanton Morley Group who felt that the views
of a Doctor from the Elmham Practice should be sought before any
final decision was made. Dr. Hibberd stated that he could not
see any reason why the various Groups should not establish some
sort of liaison. It was agreed that our approach should be
cautious in the first instance and that rather than for
representatives to visit other Group’s meetings, initially we
should establish contact by exchanging Minutes etc.
In reply to a question about
fiscal matters relating to Practice Based Commissioning and the
Practice in general, Judith reported that the Practice was in
good shape and operating within the parameters of its financial
plan.
The Chairman raised the
question of having a contact name within the Surgery, other than
Judith Wood whose busy schedule did not always permit of ready
access. Judith stated that Mel, who was the Lead Receptionist,
was always available for this purpose.
7.
Practice Items
Judith informed the meeting
that hearing aid batteries were now available for NHS hearing
aid users at both North Elmham and Swanton Morley Surgeries.
A Neurology Clinic had been
established at Swanton Morley Surgery.
8.
Any
Other Business
There was no other business to
transact and the meeting closed at approx. 9.10 p.m..
A vote of thanks was given to
the Chair.
9.
Date
of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held on Thursday, 15th
April 2010 at Elmham School, commencing at 7.30 p.m
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
HELD ON THURSDAY 10TH DECEMBER 2009
-
Apologies For Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Judith Wood.
-
Minutes of the Last Meeting
The Minutes of the last meeting of the Elmham PPG, held on
the 8th October 2009 were approved by all present.
-
Matters Arising
3.1
Dental Clinic
Dr.
Hibberd confirmed that the opening of a Dental Clinic within the
North Elmham Practice was still planned, even
though
there had been
considerable slippage from the original proposed date of opening.
3.2
Integrated Care
Dr.
Hibberd gave an up date on the current position relating to the
Integrated Care project. A long and interesting discussion ensued on
this topic. The Elmham PPG were anxious to support the Practice in
their efforts to ensure that the progress made so far was
maintained. Dr. Hibberd reported that similar schemes were being
introduced by Practices based at Watton and Dereham.
The
PCT had first been involved with the Pilot Scheme but latterly the
Norfolk County Council had taken over the leadership role.
There
were still a number of problems to resolve; not least those relating
to the role/control of District Nurses in any final approved
Integrated Care Scheme. Alan Mackim,
whilst
praising the efforts that had been made so far in getting the
Integrated Care scheme off the ground, also expressed the
frustration being felt at not being able to get all three of the
major “players” to sit around the same table at the same time.
Dr. Hibberd confirmed that, although no firm decision had been taken
to “officially” ratify the Pilot scheme, it was continuing for
the time being.
-
Swine Flu
It was noted that the Practice had commenced a Swine Flu
vaccination programme but there was some uncertainty among PPG
members about which groups were eligible and which were not. Dr.
Hibberd explained that the Department of Health had issued
instructions concerning this and that the Elmham Practice was
following these instructions, which basically set down a “hierarchy
of needs”. Patients were being invited to be vaccinated against
Swine Flu and it was entirely their decision whether to participate
or not. Some 500 patients had been invited to participate during
November and this programme would continue during December.
-
Proposed Public Meeting
The Secretary advised the meeting that the School Hall at
Elmham School would be available for a Public Meeting in April 2010.
Discussion took place concerning the format such a Public Meeting
should take. Various views were expressed but no firm decision
taken; indeed a view was expressed as whether the holding of a
public meeting was a good idea! However, it was agreed that the
matter should be further discussed at our February 2010 meeting with
the following in mind:
What
is the purpose of a Public Meeting?
-
Should it focus on particular issues?
-
Is it aimed at attracting new members to the PPG?
-
Is it to demonstrate to the local community what has been and
can be
achieved by having an active Patient Participation Group working
in onjunction with the Practice?
In
addition to the above points it was felt that perhaps the Swanton
Morley Group should be invited to participate and that, if such a
public meeting were to be held, a member of the PCT should be
invited to attend.
-
Members Items
Alan Mackim raised a question about IT equipment and in
particular whether the laptop computers used by Social Service
personnel were provided by the Practice (Integrated Care project)
but was advised that Elmham Surgery did not fund this equipment.
Jean
St. Clair mentioned that the list of PPG Members displayed on the
notice board at the entrance to the Surgery was out of date. Ted
Sansom undertook to provide Judith Wood with an up to date list of
members, together with their current telephone number and the area
they represented. Discussion took place about car parking at
the surgery and the fact that it had become more prevalent for
patients attending to park on the public highway. Phil Astley
expressed some definite views about the attitude of some drivers who
parked irresponsibly with little thought for others!
Anne
Cleverley had requested the Secretary to enquire about the systems
adopted at the Practice concerning elderly patients who perhaps did
not visit the Surgery on a regular basis and whether arrangements
were made for contact and/or an annual visit to be made. Dr. Hibberd
stated that no such provision existed although the Surgery did hold
a list of house bound patients and those with chronic disease.
Obtaining information on registered patients, who had no apparent
need to see a doctor, was difficult and perhaps was more in the
Social Care Visit category.
Ken
Walton expressed the hope that invitations to attend the PPG
meetings would continue to be extended to other surgery staff e.g.
Practice Nurses, Pharmacists, District Nurses etc. since this
provided a useful insight into various parts that make up the
whole.
-
Any Other Business
There being no other business to discuss the meeting closed
at approx. 9.05 p.m. with a vote of thanks to the Chair.
-
Date & Time of Next Meeting
The
next meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held at Elmham School on
Thursday, 11th February 2010 commencing at 7.30 p.m.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 13th AUGUST 2009
Present:
Alan Mackim (Chairman), David Sanders (Vice Chairman & Whissonsett),
Kate Wyatt (North Elmham), Jean St. Clair (Gressenhall), Phil Astley
(Gressenhall), Jim Eagle (Gressenhall), Ken Walton (Foxley), Roger
Thorneley (Worthing), Anne Cleverley (Horningtoft), Ann
Adeney (Broom Green), John Mallen (Bawdeswell),
Ted Sansom (Secretary & Worthing)
From
the Practice:
Dr.
I A. Jennings & Judith Wood.
1.
Apologies For Absence
There were no apologies for absence
2.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
The
Minutes of the last meeting of the Elmham PPG, held on Thursday, 18th
June 2009 were approved by all present.
3.
Matters Arising
3.1. Ann Adeney stated that Minute No. 4.1 was incorrectly ascribed
to her, whereas in fact the matter had been raised by Anne
Cleverley. Anne Cleverley confirmed this.
3.2
Dental Clinic
Judith Wood reported that negotiations concerning the development of
a Dental Clinic within the Practice were ongoing. As reported in the
last Minutes, new regulations relating to Health & Safety, had to be
complied with and in consequence there would be some slippage in the
original time scale envisaged for the opening of such a clinic.
3.3
Mobile Chronic Condition Project
Judith Wood stated that support from the PCT for this project had
not been wholehearted. However, it had not been abandoned altogether
and that there was the prospect of a chronic condition clinic being
developed at Dereham Hospital perhaps in October.
3.4.
Integrated Care
It
was noted that the Integrated Care scheme, developed by Elmham
Surgery, was working well and had in fact been adopted as a model
for other Practices to use. The dedicated Social Worker worked part
time for Elmham Surgery but no problems had so far been experienced
with this. The feed back from all concerned was good; the doctors at
the Surgery found it very useful; the Social Worker had been
motivated by the experience and the patients involved had given good
feed back.
The
system relating to the discharge of patients from hospital was
working much better and although the potential for earlier discharge
from hospital meant that this would result in more pressure on GP
Practices by dint of a greater requirement for a GP to make home
visits, nonetheless discharge from hospital is now better planned
and information relating to the patient is available more quickly.
Regular planning meetings were held with the Social Worker.
The
Integrated Care Scheme still needed to be refined and had not come
to a stand still but progress so far was very encouraging. Roger
Thorneley asked whether the Integrated Care Scheme was likely to be
a prime target if and when health service cuts were being looked
for. It was not possible to answer this question but all present
expressed the hope that now the scheme was up and running it would
not be viewed as a “soft target” should any axe have to fall.
4.
Practice Items
4.1 Promoting Dementia Care
Dr.
Jennings and Judith Wood outlined the Practice’s current thinking
relating to this matter and what steps were being taken to improve
the treatment and care that could be offered to dementia sufferers.
Dr. Jennings pointed out that there were different types of dementia
and in consequence different requirements of care. Initially, it was
intended to employ a nurse who could give help and advice on how to
manage the illness. Funding had been secured for a 6 months project.
Once a patient has started on medication for this condition they
will be monitored on a regular basis. Early diagnosis of the
condition greatly assists in the care and treatment process and this
was the reason why promoting dementia care was so crucial. It was
estimated that, of the Elmham Practice patient base, there were
about 200-250 patients suffering from dementia, although because of
the nature of the illness i.e. it’s “social unacceptability”, the
accuracy of this figure could not be vouched for.
4.2
Practice Based Commissioning Possibilities
Judith Wood referred to the co-operation and liaison that was taking
place between the North Elmham, Dereham, Watton & Mattishall group
of Practices and how this would hopefully improve on the
opportunities for developing more practice based commissioning
projects. Areas for possible development included: -
(i)
Improved access to consultants
(ii)
Respiratory Clinics
(iii) Sexual health and family planning clinics
(iv) Treatment of alcoholism
There would undoubtedly be a requirement for nurses with advanced
and/or specialist skills.
4.3
New Doctors
Dr.
Jennings brought the meeting up to date in relation to the situation
regarding new doctors being appointed at the Surgery. Following the
departure of Drs. Strickland, Sri Ganeshan and Hussein the Practice
Partners were anxious that there should be a period of stability
concerning doctor staffing of the Surgery. The existing Practice
Partners had not yet decided whether to take on a new Partner
and would not be making a quick decision in this regard. However,
two new doctors were joining the Practice, Dr. A. de Var and Dr. J.
Lees. The former will be joining in September and the latter, a
female doctor from a practice in Wisbech, will be joining in
October.
Dr. Jennings was asked about the difficulties, or otherwise,
experienced in the recruitment of GPs, he acknowledged that now was
not the best time to be recruiting.
5.
Group Items
5.1.
Annual Meeting
Discussion took place concerning Dr. Carroll’s point, made at the
last meeting, that the Annual Meeting of the Elmham PPG should be
open to the public. Although there were no dissenting voices
concerning this, various opinions were expressed about its aims and
objectives and at what time of the year it should be held.
Concerning the aims, it was felt that it would afford an opportunity
for the PPG to inform the general public of their activities in the
hope that it would encourage others to join. Effectively, this would
mean that some form of presentation would need to be made and
discussion took place as to whether this should be done by the PPG
or the Practice. Judith Wood felt that it should be a matter for the
PPG, since it was “their show” so to speak.
John Mallen considered that an invitation should be sent to every
Parish Council within the Elmham Surgery’s area of coverage, for
them to send a representative to the PPG’s Annual Meeting. In this
way he felt that we would get a better response than by just
advertising an open meeting.
It
was agreed to place an item on the Agenda for the October meeting of
the Elmham PPG, when members will have had time to consider this
matter in greater detail.
6.
Members Items
Kate Wyatt informed Dr. Jennings and Judith Wood of a complaint that had
been brought to her attention by a patient. The Practice staff
explained that the matter had arisen during a difficult number of
weeks that occurred at the Surgery and although the patient should
not have been given cause for complaint, it was felt that this had
come about by a misunderstanding
Members present were reminded that where a complaint was brought to
their attention it should be immediately passed on to the Surgery in
order that the matter could be dealt with expeditiously
Jean St. Clair advised that a patient in Gressenhall had recently
used a Walk in Centre for some treatment and when she advised that
she was a patient at Elmham Surgery was informed by the Walk in
Centre staff “that she was very lucky to be on the patient list at
such a good GP Practice”
Ken
Walton enquired whether it was still the intention to invite other
Surgery staff to our meetings e.g. pharmacy staff, nursing staff
etc. Judith stated that there had been no change to this policy and
that we could expect to see staff from every section of the Practice
whenever it was felt that some useful purpose would be met by them
attending. .
7.
Any other Business
There
being no other business to transact, the meeting closed at approx.
9.05 p.m. with a vote of thanks to the Chair
8.
Date of Next Meeting
The
next meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held on
Thursday, 8th October 2009 at Elmham School
commencing at 7.30 p.m.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON
18th
June 2009
Present:
Alan MacKim(Chair), Kate Wyatt (North Elmham), David Sanders, Ken
Walton (Foxley), Jean St. Clair (Gressenhall), Ann Adeney, Phil
Astley, Jim Eagle, Anne Cleverley.
From
the Practice:
Simon Carroll, Judith Wood
Apologies For Absence:
Apologies for absence were received from: Ted Sansom (Secretary &
Worthing), John Mallen.
3.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
The
Minutes of the last meeting of the Elmham PPG held on Thursday, 2nd
April 2009 were approved by all present.
4.
Matters Arising
2.1
Telephone system out-of-hours breakdown. In April the system broke
down over a weekend. There was no one there, so someone from
Patient Participation Group was called and Dr Carroll was alerted
and got through to the Exchange. He remained in the Surgery until
late in the evening. The problem was with the Exchange. They
worked all weekend and it took until mid Monday to sort it all out.
Radio Norfolk publicised the problem. The subject of what would
happen if it happened again. It was suggested certain people on the
PPG should have Partner’s mobile numbers as well as Judith Wood’s
number.
ACTION: that advice on what to do if there is a fault on the line
(to dial NHS Direct) be placed on the village website and local
parish magazines.
2.2
Reception Area Proposal. The work behind reception has now been
completed. Changing the counter is very expensive to change, as it
is a bespoke installation. Although the idea has not been shelved it
not something the practice wants to do now. There was some
discussion on the layout in the reception and how it might be
improved.
2.3
Home Care Project. A Project Manager has been appointed who is
working one day a week. The project is developing slowly. Due to
economic climate it may be easier to recruit.
2.4
Dental Clinic. The plans for the room are having to be re-drawn
due to the change in and tightening up of the law regarding the lead
lining required for such a clinic. There is a meeting on Tuesday
23rd June with the Dental contractors.
2.5
Mobile Chronic Condition Project. The Practice is meeting with
the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital on 19th June to discuss
the scheme. The bus is owned by a charity. Another project is for
an outreach clinic for neurological conditions to be established at
Dereham Hospital. The practice has discussed this with consultants
and neurological nurses from the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital and the
clinic will start on 1st October.
5. Practice
Items
3.1
Patient Emergencies. The possibility of a patient collapsing
unnoticed on the first floor has been considered and is rated to be
a low risk. Dr Carroll said there had been four patients collapsing
in the reception area. All four were resuscitated.
3.2
Developments. NHS Norfolk’s published strategy for the next 5
years mentions Elmham Surgery as one of 16 Integrated Care
Organisations in the county. Dr Carroll said this involved services
directed towards the strategy’s aim of ‘bringing care closer to the
home’. There was, for instance, the ‘unique care’ project in which
the Elmham practice was working with surgeries in Dereham and
Watton. This saw surgery-based Social Services case-workers taking
an active part in planning the support of patients returning home
from hospital.
The Elmham practice was also engaged in planning a pilot project to see
if it would be possible to provide a home-support service for older
people living in a village. Two big problems to be faced were a
shortage of district nurses and whether care-workers could be found.
3.3 Practice personnel. Dr Carroll said that the
recently appointed partner, Dr Sri-Ganeshan, had left the practice.
This was by mutual agreement under the terms of the contract
covering the initial period of mutual assessment. It was likely that
no action would be taken to recruit a replacement partner until
towards the end of the year.
In the meantime, steps are being taken to fill two vacancies among the
assistant doctors. One will replace Dr Chilenge, who is soon to
return to Egypt, the other will take the place of Dr Hussain, who
will be going back to London. Dr Carroll said three women were on
the short-list.
4.
Members’ Items
4.1 Responding to an Emergency.
Ann Adeney asked a question on behalf of a patient.
The patient’s husband had had an accident while painting outside.
He had mistakenly taken a drink from a bottle of white spirit
instead of his water bottle. He realised what he had done and was
immediately driven to the surgery. Once there a receptionist
informed him that he should go straight to A&E as he had ingested a
poison and a doctor at the surgery could not treat him. He then
went to A&E and waited an hour and a half, to be given a glass of
milk. They wanted to know why couldn’t that have been suggested at
the surgery?
Dr
Carroll explained that GPs are no longer allowed to deal with
poisons, as usually these need to be dealt with in a hospital. Much
had changed over the years and it had to be recognised that a
surgery could not operate an emergency service. In the event, it
was always better to call an ambulance rather than going to the
surgery and losing possibly valuable time in getting the proper
treatment.
4.2 Appointment Hitch.
Phil Astley asked Judith whether the problem he had raised at the
last meeting regarding the cancellation of a follow-up appointment
he had made to see a doctor. Judith explained that it looked as if
the telephone request for the follow-up date had been mistaken for
the original appointment. This situation would be looked into.
4.3 Swine-flu.
Dr
Carroll was asked what procedure was in place with regard to Swine
flu. The group was told that all the necessary procedures were in
place.
4.4 Out-of-Hours.
There was concern whether the out-of-hours service keeps records of
a patient they have to see more than once. Was there continuity?
The group was assured this was the case. The practice was pleased
with the service and would support the renewal of the contract,
which is due to run out at the end of October.
4.5 Public Meeting.
Dr
Carroll suggested that at the next meeting the subject of an
Annual/Open meeting should be put on the Agenda.
5.
There
being no other business, the Meeting closed at 8.45pm.
6. Date
of Next Meeting:
The
next Meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held on Thursday, 13th August
2009 at Elmham School commencing at 7.30 p.m.
Other Meeting Dates for 2009:
Thursday, 8th October
Thursday, 10th December
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 12TH FEBRUARY 2009
Present: John Mallen (Acting Chair), Ken Walton
(Foxley), Jim Eagle (Gressenhall),
Phil Astley (Gressenhall), Jean St. Clair (Gressenhall). Roger
Thorneley (Worthing), Ted Sansom (Secretary & Worthing)
From the Practice:
Dr.
P. Strickland
1.
Apologies For Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Alan Mackim, Ann Adeney,
Kate Wyatt and David Sanders.
2.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
Jean St. Clair requested that Minute No. 5 recorded in the previous
Minutes
should be amended to read as follows: -
Ann, the Scheme Co-ordinator at St. Nicholas Court in Gressenhall,
had expressed concern about the Out-of-Hours service. The
Out-of-Hours doctors do not know her scheme members and when she
calls on them, they are reluctant to treat them. Dr. Hibberd
responded by saying that if their prescription form was available
that should give the Out-of-Hours doctors a good idea as to their
problems but that he would arrange for this matter to be
investigated further to see whether some form of summary sheet could
be produced. However, it was important to maintain patient
confidentiality at all times. Ann, wished it to be known that she
was only talking about Scheme members who were registered with the
Elmham Surgery.
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 11th December 2008
were approved by all present.
2.1.
Reception Area Layout
Dr. Strickland gave an up date on this item. He stated that the first
phase of the re-organisation had been carried out i.e. the
re-organisation of the back office behind the reception desk. This
change, although not apparent to visitors to the Surgery, had
resulted in a more efficient operation at the reception desk area.
He stated that the whole question of the Surgery’s Reception Area
was very much “a work in progress” and that there were many ideas
and possible solutions relating to this matter. General discussion
took place on this subject and not least about the height of the
reception desk itself; although it was recognised that the height of
the desk did afford some degree of patient confidentiality e.g. view
of computer screens etc.
2.2.
Home
Care Project -
There was nothing further to report under this heading
3.
Practice/Group Items
3.1 Dental Care Proposal
Discussion under this item opened with Dr. Strickland stating that
it had always been the Practice’s intention to have an NHS Dentist
practising at the Surgery premises and that special provision had
been made to accommodate a dentist’s surgery when the new premises
at Elmham were constructed. However, the Practice had never been
able to attract and/or employ an NHS Dentist and in consequence the
proposal had never been realised. Recently, the Practice had been
researching the availability of affordable private dentistry and he
distributed some notes prepared by the Practice for PPG Members,
which set out Key Point features of a scheme operated by a company
called Tooth Doctor. This Company was currently operating such a
scheme from an NHS medical practice in Yorkshire and it was intended
that somebody from the Elmham Practice would visit this location to
witness the scheme in operation. Initially, Dr. Strickland was
seeking the views of the Patient Group in order to gauge their
reaction to the introduction of such a scheme at Elmham Surgery.
General discussion ensued with the following major
points being made: -
Would there be an adverse reaction by patients to the
fact that NHS medical services were being associated with affordable
private dental care?
Would there be sufficient interest to make this a viable
proposition? Would the Elmham Practice have any control over
future charges made by Tooth Doctor?
Would
the dental practice hours be the same as the medical practice?
(Dr. Strickland indicated that they could be longer) Would the medical practice have any input into the
appointment of a dentist? .
Would reception staff and facilities be shared? If so, was there a risk
that the efficiency of the medical surgery reception would be
adversely affected?
If dental care provision proved to be successful was there sufficient
room at the Surgery premises to comfortably house both operations
and should Swanton Morley be considered as an alternative?
Generally, it was agreed that the provision of an affordable private
dental care scheme should be pursued. Dr. Strickland thanked the PPG
members present for their input. In conclusion he stated that should
discussions and negotiations with Tooth Doctor be successful, then
it might be possible to have such a scheme operating by the end of
this year.
3.2 Surgery Opening Time
This
item had been placed on the Agenda because there had been a
complaint that the Surgery was not opening at the appointed time
i.e. 8.30 a.m. Phil Astley stated that he had raised this issue some
time ago and euphemistically referred to the “Ceremony of the
Blinds” The Chairman wondered how much of a problem this really was
e.g. did it happen every day or infrequently. It was recognised that
if the doors were opened earlier – say at 8.15 a.m. – then people
would be expecting to be seen at that time and in consequence the
boundaries of opening times would be pushed out. It was felt that
this was a matter to be left to the discretion of the Surgery staff.
4.
Members’ Items
Jean St. Clair enquired about the bungalows being constructed at Lincoln
House, Swanton Morley and whether these were available for rent. It
was not clear whether this was being dealt with by a housing
association.
Roger Thorneley raised the issue of “Choose & Book” and what advice the
doctors at the Practice were able to offer patients in this
situation. Dr. Strickland stated that the Practice doctors were only
able to advise on the “pathways” with which they were familiar i.e.
the NNUH and the Queen Elizabeth at Kings Lynn.
Ken Walton mentioned a problem he had recently encountered where
appointments had been made but on arrival at the S surgery no record
of them could be found. This problem was compounded by the fact that
it was not possible to book appointments far enough ahead. He
suggested that patients should be able to book 6-8 weeks ahead. Dr.
Strickland expressed regret that appointments had been made but not
booked by the reception staff, he stated that this was probably due
to the fact that there had been a number of new staff appointments
who were getting to know the job and working under pressure.
5.
Any Other Business
It was
noted that this meeting would be the last PPG Meeting at which Dr.
Strickland would be present due to his impending retirement from the
Elmham Practice. The Chairman paid tribute to Dr. Strickland’s
service to the local community in general and to the patients of the
Elmham Surgery in particular. All members present expressed the wish
that his retirement would be a long and happy one.
6.
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held on Thursday, 2nd
April 2009 at Elmham School commencing at 7.30 p.m.
Other Meeting Dates for 2009
Thursday, 11th June Thursday, 13th
August (at the Sports Pavilion at North
Elmham and not the School)
Thursday, 8th October Thursday, 10th
December
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 11th
DECEMBER 2008
Present:
Alan Mackim (Chair), David Sanders (Vice Chair), Ken Walton
(Foxley),
John Mallen (Bawdeswell), Jean St. Clair
(Gressenhall), Jim Eagle (Gressenhall),
Kate Wyatt (North Elmham), Phil Astley(Gressenhall),
Ted Sansom (Secretary &
Worthing)
From
the Practice: Dr. S. Hibberd
1.
Apologies For Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Ann Adeney, Anne Cleverley
and Roger
Thorneley
2.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
The
Minutes of the last meeting of the Elmham PPG, held on Thursday, 9th
October
2008 were approved.
3.
Matters Arising
3.1
‘Unique Care’ – Progress
The Chairman opened discussion on this item by inviting Dr.
Hibberd to outline the aims and purposes of the ‘Unique Care’
programme. Dr. Hibberd explained that the idea of ‘Unique Care’ had
first been introduced in Runcorn, Cheshire and in simple terms
enabled GP Practices to have a dedicated Social Worker attached to
the Practice, whose case load was solely related to the patients of
that particular Practice, so enabling greater and more efficient
monitoring of a patient’s welfare e.g. home circumstances, support
systems etc. It was particularly useful in providing a direct link
between the Practice and a hospital prior to a patient being
discharged following hospitalisation, so ensuring that the
discharged patient had sufficient support available when returning
home.
results would flow from its implementation. He further
confirmed that the Practice had been told that, unlike before when
such a scheme had been introduced and the “rug pulled from under the
feet” in a short space of time, the scheme would persist for a
minimum period of one year; by which time the beneficial results
would, hopefully, allow for it to become a permanent feature of the
Practice’s operations.
3.2. Reception Staffing
Dr. Hibberd stated that the reception staff numbers had
recently increased by 2 No. and enquired whether the members present
could say whether there had been any noticeable improvement in
telephone answering. John Mallen stated that his recent experience
had been very satisfactory with the Surgery telephone being answered
promptly and efficiently. As far as a re-design of the Surgery
Reception Area was concerned, Dr. Hibberd said that no further
progress had been made on this matter and that there was a slight
difference of opinion between the Partners of the Practice as to
whether a re-design was either necessary or desirable.
3.3. End-of-Life Care
be discussed at the PPG Meeting. Dr. Hibberd was
asked to outline the procedures in place at the North Elmham
Practice regarding End-of-Life Care. He stated that there was a big
element of forward planning in the Surgery’s approach so that when a
patient reached the palliative care stage he/she could be expected
to be treated with dignity and ongoing care from whatever sources
were available. Essential to the whole process was the patient’s
wishes i.e. did they wish to remain at home or would they rather be
hospitalised or in a hospice? If the patient preferred to remain at
home were there sufficient support services available not only for
the patient but also for those relatives/friends taking care of the
patient? All these matters were taken into account when considering
End-of-Life care.
In reply to a question, Dr. Hibberd confirmed that those
providing the Out-of-Hours service would be aware of those patients
who were in receipt of End-of-Life care.
4.
Practice/Group Items
4.1
Home Care Project
Unfortunately, progress was slow on this particular item and
in consequence there was little to report. Dr. Hibberd made
reference to the huge amount of paperwork and bureaucracy that stood
in the way of speeding up the process. However, he confirmed that
the Practice had been offered a loan to finance the project – so it
was not all bad news!
4.2
Christmas Planning
It was noted that the Surgery would close on
Christmas Eve and re-open for normal hours on Monday, 29th
December. Obviously, the period before Christmas was normally a very
busy time with patients endeavouring to arrange appointments prior
to the Christmas break; with the improvements made to the
telephone/reception procedures it was hoped that patients would find
it easier to book appointments etc.
4.3
Appointments Procedure
As mentioned above, the Practice had taken steps to improve
the appointments procedure so that patients did not have to wait too
long in order to consult with a doctor of their choice. Dr. Hibberd
confirmed that the Practice adopted a policy of having blank slots
each day, whereby a patient could arrange to have a ‘same day’
appointment although this might not be with a doctor of their
choice. In reply to a question about extended hours, Dr. Hibberd
made reference to the fact that the ‘early opening’ hours at Swanton
Morley Surgery had been in place for some time now. Reference was
made by members present to the recent distribution by NHS Norfolk of
the leaflet entitled “GP Services in your Area”. The Practice
considered that this was an attempt by NHS Norfolk to force GP
Practices to operate ‘their’ hours without any consideration to the
particular circumstances pertaining to individual Practices. Phil
Astley considered that the listing of Practices that were operating
extended hours was unfortunate since it did not include the North
Elmham Surgery and people were bound to ask “if it can be done
there, why can’t it be done here” Dr. Hibberd assured the meeting
that the North Elmham Practice would conform with NHS Guidelines
with regard to this matter.
4.4
The Partnership
Dr. Hibberd reported on the appointment of a new Partner to
the Practice which, was a result of Dr. Strickland’s impending
retirement in the Spring of 2009. The appointment had been made
following a number of interviews. The new Partner had practised for
some years in West Sussex & Surrey.
5.
Members Items (see
correction below)
Jean
St. Clair raised an issue that had been brought to her attention by
a Gressenhall patient who had attended the Surgery at Litcham and
had queried whether her patient notes would have been available to
the Litcham Surgery.
David
Sanders spoke about the detrimental effect the possible loss of the
pharmacy would have on patients at the North Elmham Practice. Dr.
Hibberd reported that there had been 60,000 comments made to the
Government's White Paper on this matter. The consensus of opinion
within the Elmham PPG being that the loss of the pharmacy at the
Practice would not be in patients’ interests and that the Government
were looking to impose urban solutions to rural problems.
6.
Any Other Business
There
being no other business to transact the Meeting was closed with a
vote of thanks to the Chair.
7.
Date of Next Meeting
The
next Meeting of the Elmham PPG will be held on
Thursday, 12th February 2009 at Elmham School
commencing at 7.30 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE
Correction to Minute No.5
Ann, the Scheme Co-Ordinator at St. Nicholas Court in Gressenhall,
had expressed concern about the Out-of-Hours service. The
Out-of-Hours doctors do not know her scheme members and when she
calls on them they are reluctant to treat them. Dr. Hibberd
responded by saying that if their prescription form was available,
that should give the Out-of-Hours doctors a good clue as to their
problems but, that he would arrange for this matter to be
investigated further to see whether some form of summary sheet could
be produced. However, it was important to maintain patient
confidentiality at all times. Ann wished it to be known that she was
only talking about Scheme members who were registered with the
Elmham Surgery.
Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday, 13th December 2007
Present: Alan Mackim (Chairman), David Sanders (Vice
Chairman & Whissonsett),
Kate Wyatt (North Elmham), Ann Adeney
(Broom Green), John Mallen
(Bawdeswell), Ann Cleverley (Horningtoft),
Jim Eagle (Gressenhall),
Phil Astley (Gressenhall), Ken Walton
(Foxley), Ted Sansom (Secretary &
Worthing).
From the Practice:
Dr. S. Hibberd
1. Apologies For Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Jean
Purchase and Jean St. Clair
2. Minutes of the Meeting held
on 9th August 2007
Because of a power cut which interrupted the meeting
held on Thursday, 11th October 2007, the PPG had not been able to
transact any business on that occasion. In consequence, the Minutes
of the meeting held on 9th August 2007 had not been approved; the
Chairman asked all present whether they could now be formally
approved and this was unanimously agreed.
3. Matters Arising
3.1
Hospital Discharge Plans
Dr. Hibberd reported that there was not much
happening on this front. He confirmed that the Norfolk & Norwich
Hospital authorities were very keen to set up a system of greater
communication between the Hospital and local GP Practices when
patients are discharged from hospital but, for some unknown reason,
the matter had gone off the boil. Discussion took place about this
state of affairs, which seemed to lack any continuity i.e. sometimes
the system worked but at other times it failed miserably. It was
unsatisfactory when patients were being discharged from hospital
with the Elmham Practice, or any GP Practice for that matter, being
unaware of their discharge.
3.2 Practice Telephone
System
Dr. Hibberd stated that the Practice were acutely
aware of the continuing shortcomings in the Practice telephone
system. The Practice had recently made a new appointment and that
Sandra Butler would be taking up the position of Practice
Administration Manager? sometime in January and that the telephone
system would be an area of priority for her to tackle. However, Dr.
Hibberd felt that it would be at least six months before any real
improvement would be noticed. Discussion of this problem included
the following points, which might help to alleviate the present
difficulties and/or assist in a solution for the future
-
Pharmacy questions can be left on an answer phone
-
Advertise the Swanton Morley Surgery telephone
number more widely
-
Have a direct line to deal with specific problems
e.g. influenza outbreaks etc. etc.
3.3 Location of
Stroke Beds
Dr, Hibberd was unable to advise the meeting of the
PCT’s intentions in this matter simply because no decisions had been
reached. Seemingly, the PCT were still forming their policy and
future plans for intermediate care.
3.4 Swanton Morley
‘Early Start Appointments’
It was noted that the trial conducted at Swanton
Morley Surgery on
‘Early Start Appointments’ had been successful and
would be continued.
The PCT were enthusiastic about Practices adopting
‘special hours’ for
appointments and were pleased with the progress being
made within the
Elmham Group.
4. Practice Items
Dr. Hibberd referred to the results of the recent
Patient Survey that had been undertaken and a general discussion
took place concerning these results. It was noted and agreed that
the results were satisfactory in general; in some areas there had
been an improvement on previous surveys and in other areas a
worsening. However, it was generally agreed that much depended upon
the way each question is phrased and that everybody reads the
question differently.
5.
Members Items
General discussion took place about the Pharmacy and
some members stated that even though they had given 48 hours notice
of their requirement for a repeat prescription, there were occasions
when the prescription still had not been available. The problem of
queuing for prescriptions had been solved but other problems i.e.
that mentioned above, seemed to be arising. It was difficult to
pinpoint the reason for this but Dr. Hibberd confirmed that Sandra
Butler’s remit would also include responsibility for the smooth
functioning of the Pharmacy
The Secretary enquired whether any members would
prefer to receive communications via e-mail rather than hard copy
and if so, then they should let him have their e-mail addresses
after the meeting.
The Secretary reported that he had not yet finalised
the 2008 Meeting Dates with the Elmham School Secretary but that
these would be included when the Minutes of the meeting were
distributed.
6.
Any Other Business
There being no other business to transact, the
meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the Chair.
7.
Date Of Next Meeting
The next Meeting of the Elmham Patient Participation
Group will be held on Thursday, 14th February 2008 at
Elmham School commencing at 7.30 p.m.
2008 Meeting Dates
Thursday, 14th February
Thursday, 14th August
Thursday, 10th
April Thursday, 9thOctober
Thursday, 12th
June Thursday, 11th December
Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday, 11th October 2007
Present: Alan Mackim (Chairman), David Sanders (Vice
Chairman & Whissonsett), Jim Eagle (Gressenhall), Jean Purchase (Swanton Morley),
Phil Astley (Gressenhall), Roger Thorneley (Worthing), Jean St.
Clair (Gressenhall), Ted Sansom (Secretary & Worthing)
From the Practice:
Dr P J Strickland & Penny Louch
1.
Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Ann Adeney and John Mallen
and Ken Walton.
2.
Out of Hours Care
The Chairman introduced Dr. Nick Morton,
Assistant Medical Director of the East of England Ambulance
Service who had been invited to address the meeting on the
subject of Out of Hours Care.
Dr Morton thanked the Chairman for affording him
the opportunity to meet with the Elmham Patient Group and
proceeded to give an informative talk on the East of England
Ambulance Service in general and the Out of Hours Care service
it was contracted to supply in particular. A lively and
interesting discussion then ensured between PPG members and Dr.
Morton.
Unfortunately, a disruption to the power supply
occurred at approx. 8pm and although this did not cause Dr
Morton to abandon his presentation, discussion continuing by
dint of the school emergency lighting system, it was not
possible to conduct any further business on completion of Dr.
Morton's talk The Chairman thanked Dr Morton for his
presentation.
3. Date of Next Meeting
The
next meeting of the Elmham Patient Participation Group will be held on
Thursday, 13th December 2007 in North Elmham School commencing at 7.30 p.m.
Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday, 9th August 2007
Present:
Alan Mackim (Chairman), David Sanders (Vice
Chairman & Whissonsett), Ken Walton (Foxley), Jim Eagle
(Gressenhall), Ann Cleverley (Horningtoft), Phil Astley
(Gressenhall), Jean Purchase (Swanton Morley), Kate Wyatt
(North Elmham), Jean St.Clair (Gressenhall), Ted Peachment
(Chairman, Swanton Morley Group), Maggie Richards (Vice
Chair Swanton Morley Group)
From the Practice:
Dr. S. Hibberd, Penny Louch, Judith
Woods, and Mandy Buck
.
Elmham Surgery and Swanton Morley Nurse-Led Surgery
