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| 2013 |
Executive Committee Members: Emilio Ceraudo (EC), Patricia Daniels (PD), John Doland (JD), Doris Halls (DoH), Joyce Jarvis (JJ), Josephine Powell (JP), Chris Stannard (CS), L.M. Stockman (LMS)
David Harper (DaH) and Nick Martensz (NM) were absent with apologies.
Surgery Representatives: Lesley Davis (LD), Dr Yasser Rasool (DrYR)
JD welcomed the surgery representatives to their first PPG meeting and invited them to introduce themselves.
DrYR began, talking about his family, his background and his training (Ipswich, London and Edinburgh among other places). He lives locally and his wife is a registrar (obstetrics and gynaecology) at a local hospital.
LD is practice manager at both the local Malling Health practices, St. Neots and Bar Hill. She commutes in from the Coventry area every day to personally oversee operations at the two surgeries.
JD asked LD how she would manage maple surgery from St. Neots. She replied that she would spend half of her time at each establishment. When she wasn't physically on site, her deputy manager, Denise Russell, would be. LD also said she could keep an eye on things from a distance if necessary.
The majority of the meeting was given over to discussing questions likely to be raised at the public meeting on 7 May.
Q: How many permanent doctors will there be and when will they start?
A: Three
Q: How many full-time doctors will there be?
A: One, Dr Yasser Rasool.
Q: How many part-time doctors will there be?
A: Two, Dr Sujata Bhandari and Dr Simon Prince
Q: Are the doctors local to the area? Are they familiar with local healthcare provision?
A: All of the doctors are local.
Q: Will locum doctors be used regularly?
A: Use of locum doctors will be minimal: annual leave, sick leave, etc.
Q: Will there be both male and female doctors?
A: Yes.
Q: How experienced are the permanent doctors?
A: All of the doctors are very experienced. Dr Prince has been practising for 20 years.
Q: How will the scheduling of doctors work?
A: At the moment the scheduling is under constant review and tweaking to the rota is still taking place. Eventually there will be two GPs holding clinics every day.
Q: Will patients register with a specific GP or just with the surgery?
A: In line with new NHS policy, patients register with the surgery, not with an individual GP.
Q: When asked who your GP is, how should you respond?
A: You can name Dr Yasser Rasool as the lead practitioner or your preferred doctor.
Q: Will the nurses be retained?
A: No, all of the previous nurses have left the surgery.
Q: How many permanent nurses will there be and when will they start?
A: One or two. The practice is having difficulty recruiting a nurse and will be using locums in the short term.
Q: How many full-time nurses will there be?
A: One unless two part-time nurses are recruited.
Q: How many part-time nurses will there be?
A: Two unless one full-time nurse is recruited.
Q: Will there be a nurse practitioner?
A: Hopefully.
Q: Will the nurse(s) be prescribing nurse(s)?
A: Hopefully
Q: Will the healthcare assistant be retained?
A: Yes.
Q: Patients with long-term or chronic illnesses particularly need continuity of care. Having to see a different clinician every time is inefficient and may lead to poorer care. How will this be addressed?
A: Patients can always request to see a particular GP but the wait might be longer than if they just take the first available appointment. The doctors themselves encourage patients to see different doctors to ensure the best possible healthcare. Second opinions are welcomed.
Q: What clinical services will be provided?
A: All current services (physiotherapist, podiatrist, etc.) will continue as usual.
Q: Will consultations be 10 or 15 minutes long? Can patients book double appointments if they have complicated or multiple problems to discuss?
A: Appointments are 12.5 minutes long and the surgery is already able to offer more appointment slots to patients.
Q: What previously existing specialised services (such as Denosumab and Zoladex injections, annual influenza vaccinations, etc.) will be continued? What provision is there for informing affected patients of discontinued services?
A: Annual influenza vaccinations will certainly take place and the practice is interested to hear how the vaccination clinics have run in the past.
Q: What new services will be added to the previously existing ones?
Q: Would you consider adding a personal health trainer to the staff? (Personal health trainers are usually based in GP surgeries and give free, confidential, real and honest advice on eating, drinking, exercise and giving up smoking as well a range of other issues that can affect people's health. - from personalhealthtrainer.org.uk)
A: New services have to commissioned at a higher level due to budgeting constraints.
Q: What will be the rules regarding repeat prescriptions? Will prescriptions continue to be restricted to one month's supply? Will batch prescriptions be available for those on stable long-term medication? Who will conduct prescription reviews?
A: All the rules regarding repeat prescriptions remain the same (48-hour turn around time, 28-day supply of medication, batch prescriptions, etc.).
Q: What will the opening hours be? Will there be extended hours? Will the surgery be open during lunch? When will telephones be answered?
A: The surgery will be open all day, including during lunch. There will be an early clinic on Wednesdays beginning at 7:00 a.m.. The healthcare assistant will also be in early that day. The practice hopes to add five extra hours from October, perhaps including an evening clinic.
Q: What online services will be available? Will there be a surgery web site? Is your web site designer familiar with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 which requires web sites to be accessible to disabled users?
A: The web site is being designed and existing email addresses will continue to work. Patients will be able to request a user name and password in order to make bookings online and also order repeat prescriptions.
Q: Will the reception and administrative staff be retained?
A: Most of the administrative staff have stayed and more have been brought in. Everyone is being encouraged to cross train so that there is complete administrative cover in the event someone is absent. It also makes for a more stimulating work environment for the staff.
Q: Who will be the practice manager? Who will be the deputy practice manager?
A: Lesley Davis is the practice manager. She will be assisted by Denise Russell.
Q: Will the manager or deputy manager be on-site?
A: Lesley Davis is also the manager at the St. Neots Health Centre. She will split her time evenly between the two sites. On the days she is not on site, Denise Russell will be.
Q: Who will handle complaints?
A: Lesley Davis.
Q: Will the name of the surgery be changed from maple surgery? This name was brought in by the previous incumbents and so has only been around for three years.
A: The name will remain the same.
Q: Will the PPG be supported in its current form?
A: Yes.
Q: Will there be other forms of patient participation?
A: Perhaps.
Q: Who will be the main liaison between the practice and the PPG?
A: Lesley Davis will be the main liaison but Denise Russell or Fiona McGlashan will attend PPG meetings in Lesley Davis's absence. It is hoped that a clinician will be able to attend most meetings.
Q: Who will be responsible for keeping PPG information in the reception area up-to-date?
A: PPG executive committee members are welcome to put things on the PPG 'bulletin board' in reception. Items needing printing (posters, leaflets, etc.) should be sent to Lesley Davis who will forward them on to the appropriate person.
Q: How will ties with the local community be maintained and strengthened (monthly articles in the Bar Hill News, Health Awareness Events, leaflets, participation in the local village fête, etc.)?
A: The practice will rely on the PPG to help them in this task.
Q: What is your vision for the practice over the next five years? Where are you starting and where are you going?
A: Malling Health was set up by six GPs and an office manager. Over the past few years they have bid to run other practices and currently hold contracts for 33 practices. However, each practice is autonomous to a large extent and able to adapt to local needs. There is no heavy-handed control from above.
JD remarked that he had had no contact from surgery about the public meeting. LD said that she had been advised that the best way to advertise the meeting to Bar Hill residents was through the Bar Hill News and that an article would be appearing in the next edition. CS warned that the Bar Hill News is not always delivered in a timely manner and that additional advertising would be wise. PD also pointed out that several hundred patients didn't live in Bar Hill and would not see the article in the first place. She wondered if it might be possible to target those patients with a mail shot. LD said that she could search the patient database to find out who lived outside the village. Both JD and DoH recommended posters be put up in the village. Recommended places were the surgery itself, the notice board outside the parish council office, the library, the church and the village hall. LD said that she could arrange for posters to be made.
Action: CS suggested that Committee members be at the church hall no later than 6:10 p.m. to help with setting up and any other last minute details.
Action: Due to the lateness of the hour, all other agenda items were deferred until the next ordinary meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
The next ordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the PPG will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, in the TNT Room at Bar Hill Church. Tea and coffee will be served before the meeting, from 6:00 p.m.
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