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| 2011 |
PPG Members: Margaret Brown (MB), Brian Burrage (BB), Emilio Ceraudo (EC), Patricia Daniels (PD), John Dowland (JD), David Harper (DH), Margaret Moffat (MM), Terri Pope (TP), Chris Stannard (CS), L.M. Stockman (LMS)
Diana Birley (DB), Nik Barton (NB) and Michael Boughton-Fox (MBF) were absent with apologies.
Surgery Representatives: Jeremy Liew (JL), Jenny Moyes (JM), Sophie Ward (SW)
Trish Hawitt Palmer (THP) was absent with apologies.
Invited Speaker: Samantha Wilkin (SW2)
PD introduced Natural England representative Samantha Wilkin who gave a short presentation about the Walking for Health initiative. Natural England sponsors Walking for Health, training walk leaders and helping them organise local walks. A health walk is an entry-level walk to improve health. As such, it needs to be brisk but the tempo is very much dependent on the individual. Walks normally have at least two leaders; the first leader actually leads the walk and the second leader follows the group so that no walker is left behind.
The Department of Health is funding the programme until the end of the year. New funding may come from a consortium of health charities. The project is being streamlined, with two-thirds of the administrative staff being made redundant.
Health walks are easy to set up and inexpensive to run. Mostly they take some time to organise and maintain, and this is done by the volunteer walk leaders. The Bar Hill walks (three to date) have been a great success and the health centre is Sawston is looking to follow our lead in setting up a health walk in their area.
SW2 then passed around pedometers for the group and complimented PD on setting up the Bar Hill walks.
PD mentioned that the next walk would be held on Thursday, 7 April, at the usual time and meeting place. There are posters in the surgery and the Bar Hill library.
DH asked how we could support Walking for Health and SW2 said participation was the best way. MM suggested to PD that she attend the 'Over 50s' club to discuss the walks. JL asked about individual success stories and SW2 said that there were over 500 case histories on the web site. Both EC and PD said that the walks were a great way to socialise.
Two corrections to the previous meeting's minutes were submitted and then the amended minutes from the meeting of 23 February 2011 were approved.
The surgery receives approximately a dozen copies of the Bar Hill News and these are put out about the second week of the month. They are intended for non-local residents who use the surgery but residents are still taking them home.
CS says that contracts are being issued for regular usage of the Octagon and that a contract would be sent to the surgery. The July meeting may be held one week early, on 20 July, due to the hall being reserved the last week.
Action: CS will confirm this date at the next meeting.
JM doesn't know if the results of the recent surgery questionnaire can be shared. There are two questionnaires: one is in-house and one is run by the NHS. The in-house questionnaire is not yet complete and is intended to help clinicians. JD asked if any of the questions on the form are likely to be of interest or use to the group but neither JM nor SW knew.
Action: Deferred.
JM and THP are still working on the new patient brochure and it is nearing completion. Because the situation is continually evolving at the surgery (for instance, new members of staff), only a few brochures will be printed at a time. JM is still deciding on the best way of delivering the brochure to new (and possibly existing) patients.
Action: Deferred.
DH has enquired about copyright issues of articles appearing in the Bar Hill News, with a view towards reproducing them online at the web site or distributing them at the surgery. However, he has not yet received a reply from Margaret Sellars or Roger Hall. DH did point out that space in the Bar Hill News is limited and future articles will have to be limited to a paragraph or two.
Action: DH will contact Margaret Sellars and/or Roger Hall to clarify the situation.
LMS passed around leaflets she had created detailing how to get by bus between Bar Hill to Addenbrooke's Hospital or Chesterton Medical Centre. The leaflet is available at the surgery and also online at the web site. MM asked DH to record the group's thanks to LMS for her excellent work in producing the leaflets.
Action: LMS will produce an updated leaflet on 17 April 2011 when the new bus timetables go into effect.
MM led the discussion about Community First Responders. The response of the ambulance service is usually very fast but accidents on the A14 can slow traffic or even bring it to a stop, making it difficult for emergency personnel to reach Bar Hill in a timely manner. One solution is to implement Community First Responders who try to keep the patient (usually suffering from myocardial infarction or heart attack) alive until the ambulance arrives. This is not an 'ambulance service on the cheap' but an adjunct to the ambulance service. A minimum of five people are needed to cover the electoral ward, the village of Bar Hill in this instance, and the village pays for the equipment, typically costing £2500-£3000. The volunteer CFRs are trained and certified by the ambulance service and take turns being on call for emergencies. They must have a car and be physically fit. In addition to the initial training, CFRs must undergo refresher training at regular intervals.
DH asked how many people in Bar Hill had suffered heart attacks where a CFR might have been able to affect the outcome. JL replied that the Director of Public Health would have the figures but the results may not be meaningful. Hospitals 'code' their patients but this coding is not uniform so this affects results.
BB pointed out that helicopters can land at the golf course in the event of an emergency.
Also, emergency vehicles can drive through the golf course to get to Bar Hill but this is not helpful if the A14 is at a standstill back to the Dry Drayton/Oakington junction.
Action: DH will try to get the relevant figures from the Director of Public Health. MM will ask Lorna Hayes of CFR to attend the next meeting.
MM asked about the surgery complaints procedure. JM says that she can talk to patients face to face or respond in writing, depending on the circumstances. There are certain protocols that need to be followed, depending upon the nature of the complaint.
MM said that a complaint about the surgery had been received via email only that afternoon and wanted to know how best to respond to it. A copy of the email, with identifying details removed, was passed around for the group to read and discuss.
JM said that the complaint was not one that the group could deal with but that it should be passed back to the surgery or over to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service. JL said that he used to deal with complaints whilst working in hospital and that they are always an emotive issue. MB suggested that the group reply, saying that we referred it to the surgery and JD suggested that we also point the complainant towards PALS.
LMS also mentioned a recent adverse comment on the surgery's NHS web site, although there was no specific details as to what precisely the patient's problem was. The online complaint was anonymous so there was no way to know if it was the same person.
Action: DH will draft a response which he will share with MM before sending it to the patient.
JD said that there was graffiti on one of the walls of the Health Centre.
CS asked if a collection box for the new memorial garden could be placed in the surgery.
Action: JM will ask.
MB asked about occasional medical talks or presentations, open to the community and sponsored by the surgery, with the group providing refreshments as a fund-raising activity. Such lectures were discussed when the group was first formed last summer but nothing has come of it.
Action: JM will refer it to THP.
SW asked about volunteer drivers to take patients to clinics that are not held at one of the main medical centres. Some communities have such a set-up but not Bar Hill. This was discussed at an earlier meeting but there were several hurdles, including the issue of automobile insurance and criminal background checks.
CS suggested Dial-a-Ride.
Action: Deferred.
JL was asked by THP to visit the group to discuss medications and prescriptions. He will return in May to talk about various issues.
Action: Members will assemble a list of questions for him by the next meeting so that he can prepare his answers.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
The next meeting of the PPG will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, in the Octagon. Tea and coffee will be served before the meeting, from 6:00 p.m.
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