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| 2011 |
PPG Members: Brian Burrage (BB), Emilio Ceraudo (EC), Margaret Moffat (MM), Terri Pope (TP), Chris Stannard (CS), L.M. Stockman (LMS)
Patricia Daniels (PD), David Harper (DH) and Joyce Jarvis (JJ) were absent with apologies.
Surgery Representatives: None due to staff illness.
Trish Hawitt Palmer (THP) was absent with apologies
The minutes from the meeting of 31 August 2011 were approved.
LMS reported on DH's behalf that representatives from the Care Network would give a presentation at the October meeting. The group voiced its thanks to DH for arranging the talk.
The first Health Awareness Evening is now provisionally scheduled for Wednesday, 23 November, in the church hall. Jenny Moyes will submit an article to the Bar Hill News in time for the November issue. There will be no publicity other than the Bar Hill News article and posters around the village. Possible poster locations: Bar Hill church, Bar Hill health centre, Bar Hill library/post office, Bar Hill parish council notice board, Bar Hill village hall/social club, Menzies gym or golf club, Tesco pharmacy, private fences along the village spine paths (subject to owner permission). It was decided not to offer refreshmentssince no one has any idea how many people are likely to turn up for the event. It may be possible to offer refreshments at future events.
Action: CS will confirm that the church is available on that evening. LMS will design a poster and send it to Jenny Moyes for printing and distribution.
Most of the rest of the evening was dedicated to discussing the second draft of the constitution of the group. It was decided that an AGM should be held at the November meeting, with both the group and the surgery giving reports.
Action: LMS will prepare a third draft based on the decisions made by the group and discussions will continue at the October meeting. THP will be contacted about the surgery's participation in the AGM.
MM has been talking with local mothers about joining the group in order to make the group more representative of the patients as a whole. However, this particular demographic is extremely busy and finds it difficult to make time for meetings. There have also been some specific concerns raised by local mothers:
BB wondered what happens when a patient really wants to see a doctor even when an appointment with a nurse is more appropriate. He also related his own difficulties in getting appointment times many weeks in advance. LMS said that she occasionally had the same trouble with her regular repeat appointments but was told that sometimes the surgery just doesn't know far in advance who is working when. MM then expressed her concern over medical staff turnover at the surgery. However, everyone was very pleased with the work done by the reception staff.
CS said that in many clinics at Addenbrooke's Hospital, there were posters saying how many patients had failed to turn up for their appointments and suggested that something similar might be done at the surgery. The poster could show how many patients failed to turn up for the doctor's appointment in the previous month, how many failed to attend their nurse's appointment and how the numbers were changing from month to month.
The group thought it might be useful to know how many patients were joining or leaving the practice from month to month and, if possible, why. EC said that the exodus of patients at the beginning of maple surgery's tenure was probably due to fear of the unknown. BB also pointed out that older patients were used to having a one-to-one relationship with their doctor which is different from the current set-up.
TP asked if the surgery was aware of or associated with Intercare, a registered charity which collects returned patient medicines from GP practices and, after appropriate checks, distributes them free of charge to a network of health centres in sub-Saharan Africa.
MM brought up the issue of finances and how TP (for refreshments) and DH (for expenses relating to the group's web site) get reimbursed for expenses incurred on behalf of the group. MM also thought that the surgery should cover printing costs for lengthy items. It was generally agreed that members of the group could print their own copies of the minutes and the agendas and other small items.
Action: Deferred to a future meeting.
MM introduced the group to the Bobby Scheme run by the Cambridgeshire Police Shrievalty Trust. This scheme provides a free service to burglary victims and, for a small donation, helps other vulnerable people who are not yet victims but at high risk. BB said that it was already used in the village. It was decided that this matter was more a concern of the parish council.
BB asked about patient questionnaires but was told that this had been deferred indefinitely.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
The next meeting of the PPG will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 26 October 2011, in the Octagon. Tea and coffee will be served before the meeting, from 6:00 p.m.
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