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| 2013 |
Executive Committee Members: Emilio Ceraudo (EC), Patricia Daniels (PD), John Doland (JD), Doris Halls (DoH), David Harper (DaH), Joyce Jarvis (JJ), Anthony Mitchell (AM), L.M. Stockman (LMS)
Graham Hardy (GH), Josephine Powell (JP) and Chris Stannard (CS) were absent with apologies.
Surgery Representatives: Fiona McGlashan (FM)
The minutes from the meeting of 25 September 2013 were approved.
The patient brochure is still undergoing revision but FM hopes that it will be ready by the end of November.
Action: The Executive Committee will be able to see the draft of the patient brochure before it is printed.
Approximately 550 patients were vaccinated during the 3-hour flu clinic in October. There were another 400 patients who were unable to attend on the day. FM had some misgivings about using text messages to send out flu clinic invitations. About 600 messages were sent but it wasn't as successful as it could have been, mainly because the surgery doesn't have up-to-date mobile phone numbers.
Some patients who were supposed to be invited were not. Both AM and JJ said that they received neither a text message nor a letter. AM suggested using email as well as the other methods already employed to get the invitations to the patients. And PD said that the patient brochure should make a point of telling patients to keep their details up-to-date.
LMS asked about the criteria used to determine which patients were invited and which weren't. She had been invited for the past three years but not this year. FM said the criteria were set centrally by the NHS, and that they changed from year to year. There is a flu vaccine waiting list for people who were not invited but who would like to get vaccinated. Those people should leave their name with reception at the surgery. Once all of the invitees have been dealt with, if there is any vaccine left over then the waiting list people will be called.
AM said that Boots in Huntingdon was offering free flu jabs for NHS-eligible patients but he wasn't sure how the pharmacists at Boots determined who was eligible and who wasn't. Tesco also offers flu vaccinations to everyone for a small fee.
JD said that the only complaint he had heard about the clinic was the long queues outside the surgery - it was a rainy day! FM said that there was a lot of queue jumping and everyone seemed to show up at the same time.
FM also thought that the clinic was a lost opportunity. She thought it might be possible to have some kind of health-related event at the same time. Perhaps the clinic could be held at the church hall where there would be plenty of space for people to wait and participate in additional health-related activities, even if it was only reading posters and displays. LMS brought up the issue of privacy and said it would be necessary to have areas curtained or partitioned off where people were actually be injected.
DaH brought up an issue from last month regarding noticeboards and privacy. Some of the noticeboards are right next to one of the clinic rooms and it is possible to overhear the conversations from outside the room when one is reading the Health Walk posters. FM acknowledged that privacy was an issue and said that was the main reason for having the radio playing in reception.
Action: FM is happy to move the Health Walk posters to another position. PD will advise. LMS suggested putting staff photos and info on the problematical noticeboard instead of patient information.
DaH said that he had not yet received updated figures. FM said that they were being worked on and that the surgery hoped to have an official DNA policy soon. It will be included in the patient brochure.
The web site is still under development. Lesley Davis is learning how to edit it.
FM said the the spirometer was not working at the moment but that the software that controls it would be updated next week.
FM said that the surgery was very enthusiastic about having a stall at the village fête next year. Various ideas from the September meeting were discussed:
FM said it was important to keep it fun and not too serious although there was a place for various health-related leaflets, including forms for organ/blood donation and prescription pre-payment plans.
FM said that the surgery would need the help of the PPG to run the stall. DaH asked how far ahead the stall had to be booked. FM said that she thought the notices went out around April.
FM said that she would nudge the clinicians into planning a 'Health Living'-themed event for late May. JD suggested inviting organisations like Slimming World and Weight Watchers to set up stalls. PD also suggested ChiPs which provides NHS support for weight loss. FM agreed that both ChiPs and Weigh2Go should also be invited. JD said that exercise should be emphasized as part of a healthy lifestyle and AM agreed, saying that he enjoyed his regular Zumba classes.
AM enquired about including dentistry as part of a 'Healthy Living' theme but FM was not keen, given the confusion which already exists in patients' minds over who to call for dental emergencies. LMS said if you included dentistry then what about optometry? Where would we draw the line? FM said that a more narrow focus might be necessary but will ask the clinicians. The event should restrict itself to about six stalls.
PD warned that we should avoid even a whiff of fundraising as that puts people off. JD said we should aim the event a people who are a bit down, not severely ill. It should try to help people become more healthy generally.
DaH said dates would need to be carefully checked to avoid school holidays, bank holidays, etc.
Action: AM will check on school half term in May and FM will look towards booking a date sometime after Christmas.
FM said that one of our part-time GPs, Dr Simon Prince, has moved to the St. Neots practice and that a long-term locum is currently filling in. Lesley Davis is interviewing candidates for a permanent replacement.
The surgery hopes to offer extended hours soon. It is already open early (7:00 a.m.) on Wednesdays but hopes to offer early openings on Mondays and late openings (until 7:00 p.m.) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This will depend, of course, on clinician availability. At the moment, the surgery has no official position on the British Medical Association suggestion that surgeries should be open seven days a week.
JD expressed his concerned about appointment wait times. LMS concurred, saying that it wasn't possible to get an appointment within a week unless it was an emergency. FM said that it had just been very busy recently, plus they were down one GP. She suggested asking for a GP telephone consultation when appropriate. GPs have a small block of appointments each day which only they can book. If they believe your situation to be an emergency, they can book you in on the day themselves.
AM asked about getting a nurse practitioner to take some of the pressure off of the GPs. FM replied that the surgery nurse is studying to become a nurse practitioner.
AM, putting on his parish councillor hat, asked if it would be possible to put a poster in the surgery about the 'English as an Alternative Language' meetings which occur twice a month. FM said there was a special local events notebook in reception that she could put the poster in.
DaH reminded everyone that the next meeting (and final one of the year) was the AGM. He also reminded JD that the chairman would be expected to present the PPG's annual report. DaH then said that he had served as secretary for three years and would be stepping down from that role at the election of officers in November. He hastened to add that he would remain a member of the Committee and continue to administer the mailing list and web site. AM expressed an interest in taking over the job of secretary.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
The annual general meeting of the Executive Committee of the PPG will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 November 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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