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| 2011 |
PPG Members: Brian Burrage (BB), Patricia Daniels (PD), John Doland (JD), David Harper (DH), Joyce Jarvis (JJ), Chris Stannard (CS), L.M. Stockman (LMS)
Emilio Ceraudo (EC), Margaret Moffat (MM) and Terri Pope (TP) were absent with apologies.
Surgery Representatives: Jenny Moyes (JM), Sophie Ward (SW)
Trish Hawitt Palmer (THP) was absent with apologies
Invited Speakers: Jane Hurst (JH), Hilary Johnys (HJ)
The minutes from the meeting of 28 September 2011 were approved.
Jane Hurst and Hilary Johnys from the Care Network were introduced. JH began with a brief history of the Care Network and then talked about the Community Car Scheme in more detail. The Care Network originated 25 years ago in Cottenham when a small group of people decided to put together a 'village help' scheme. It is now country-wide and runs a variety of 'good neighbour' schemes. The CCS is particularly popular. In this scheme, a group is set up in one or more villages to recruit and coordinate volunteers who drive those who can't get out easily. However, it is not simply a taxi scheme. The organisation works with Cambridgeshire County Council who provides liability cover, reimbursement of expenses, etc.
South Cambridgeshire is very committed to these schemes which are a mix of good neighbour schemes, Dial-A-Ride and other activities. At this time there are 40+ such schemes in the Care Network but Bar Hill is not yet represented. Most recently, the villages of Over, Willingham, Longstanton and Swavesey have put together their network which they call OWLS. It took about six to seven months to organise it which is rather faster then it normally takes.
The CCS Volunteer Factpack is a useful guide and is available online at http://www.care-network.org.uk/ . Each group must have a coordinator and all trips must be booked through the coordinator, otherwise there is no insurance cover from the county. The coordinator decides if a trip is appropriate and finds a driver who then collects the passenger. The car is metered and the trip costs the passenger 30p/mile. Cambridge County Council pays an additional 15p/mile. (These amounts only apply when the passenger is actually in the car.)
Local parish councils are often asked for a small start-up grant to get the scheme going. The drivers all undergo CRB checks before they can begin.
Although most patients can get to their out-of-village medical appointments without trouble, some cannot, and buses are not always useful. Some of the CCS are involved with a doctor or a surgery and are restricted to medically-related trips (although not usually hospital trips). However, all such schemes are autonomous and some communities also offer drivers for social excursions. It depends on the local resources available.
The main outcomes of the Care Network are
JM said that ambulance transport to Addenbrooke's Hospital was available, but not to Chesterton Medical Centre. Also, there were no early morning services available. She recounted an example from the surgery where a patient could have been treated quickly at St. Ives but lack of early morning transport meant that the patient had to wait for a later appointment at a different facility. JH replied that there were many complicated issues surrounding hospital transport -- who, where, how much. This would need to be coordinated by the Care Network administrators.
PD warned that such a scheme might be too big for the group to handle on its own and there was general agreement with this. JM said it would be necessary to get the message out to the wider public.
BB asked who made up the pool of volunteer drivers. JH said that they were mostly retired persons but not exclusively so. It simply depended on who was available and when.
JM suggested that an article in the Bar Hill News would be a good way to get things started. CS said any such scheme should include local villages not already in such a scheme.
JD enquired about the kinds of people who use the service. JH said those needing a ride included
JD pointed out that in the case of Addenbrooke's Hospital, it might be enough to get people to Trumpington Park & Ride or to the guided busway.
CS asked JM who at the surgery decides which patient gets ambulance transport to their hospital appointment. JM replied that it was a 'tick box' exercise.
HJ then talked about the other services provided by the Care Network. Welcome Home from Hospital was started 16 years ago at Addenbrooke's Hospital and is now county-wide. It's for people going home to an empty house after a hospital stay. A new initiative is called Help at Home which incorporates Welcome Home from Hospital, one-off tasks like changing a light bulb or re-setting the clocks, and helping those who are ill at home to avoid admission to hospital. Over 700 people were helped last year but NHS funding is due to run out in March 2012.
JM asked how people were referred to the scheme. HJ replied that people can self-refer but that the scheme prefers doctors' surgeries to suggest patients. Help at Home can provide short-term assistance but can refer those needing long-term help to the appropriate authorities. HJ then passed around leaflets explaining the scheme.
BB expressed the thanks of the group.
Posters designed by LMS are being distributed, with some already displayed in the surgery, the library, the parish council notice board and Tesco pharmacy. CS confirmed that representatives from Diabetes UK should be in attendance and asked members of the group to arrive at the church an hour ahead of the talk to set things up. CS also asked if the church's audio-visual equipment was going to be needed.
Action: JM will find out if the speakers need the audio-visual equipment. Members of the group will arrive early to set up.
Action: Deferred.
JM said that missed appointment statistics are listed in the monthly Bar Hill News surgery article but are not posted in the surgery. Serial offenders (people who regularly fail to show) are not given bookable appointments but are seen on an emergency basis.
There were 3299 patients in the practice in April 2010 when maple surgery took over. In September 2011, there were 3368 patients. There are many reasons why patients join or leave the surgery. The high number of rental properties in Bar Hill means there is a high turnover in patient numbers. Youngsters going off to school or work, people moving from the area, and long-term visitors to Bar Hill also contribute to patient number fluctuations. Although some (not many) former patients have left to join other surgeries, there has been a number of former patients coming back.
JM can take care of reimbursements for refreshments but other expenses such as the web site should be referred to THP.
The surgery does not have a dispensary and cannot store medications so it is not associated with Intercare. All unused drugs should be returned to a pharmacy like Tesco for proper disposal. The surgery can take sharps bins but not drugs.
BB brought up the ongoing problem of getting appointments weeks in advance. LMS agreed that it was sometimes impossible to get regular appointments even four weeks in advance, never mind longer. JM said that the computer schedule was usually four weeks ahead.
JJ mentioned a local lunch club for Alzheimer's patients. JM offered to pass the details along to the doctors at the surgery.
CS said that he had tried to leave a comment at the surgery's NHS web site but that it wasn't showing up. DH said that the site may be moderated and that the comment might be awaiting screening.
JD offered his congratulations on the efficiently-run influenza clinic run on 15 October. DH passed on a message from MM regarding privacy and the clinic. The door to the room was open during the inoculation and some patients prefer to have it closed.
JM asked about an item in the September minutes about a group of local mothers who are unhappy about certain aspects of the surgery. She wanted to know if this was some organised group or just some individuals. She was told the comments were from individuals.
JM also announced that the new nurse is a prescribing nurse and can handle minor illnesses.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
The next meeting of the PPG is the Annual General Meeting and will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, in the Octagon. Tea and coffee will be served before the meeting, from 6:00 p.m.
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