July 10, 2024

Minutes

FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY PRACTICE                

Minutes of meeting on 10 July 2024

Present:  Mike Rudd (Chair), Graham Cundy, Malcolm Jefferies, Lynn McGrady (Sec), Sandra Shaw, Nicky Yates (from Item 5), Jill Keen (Practice Manager)

1.     Apologies for Absence

         Apologies were received from Hilary Gower.

2.     Minutes of the last meeting held on 17 April 2024

         The minutes were agreed.

3.      Matters Arising from last meeting 

         There were no matters arising not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

4.      Health Centre Update

         a) Operational or procedural changes

         Staff in the Practice are unable to make changes to the new website however, following requests, some minor tweaks have recently been implemented centrally. Work continues in this area.

Where hospitals suggest that patients see their GP it’s the responsibility of the patient to make this appointment as the Practice receives up to 200 letters per day and not all hospital letters are seen by GPs. Where hospitals require blood tests these must be undertaken at the hospital as they have specific forms which can’t be used on the system in place within the Practice. However, any specific requests from hospitals (eg for ongoing medication, injections, removal of stitches etc) can be arranged within the Practice.

The quickest way for patients to obtain repeat prescriptions is to order them via electronic means, for example, the NHS app, Pharamacy2U etc.  Paper requests handed in at the surgery require administrative intervention prior to the GPs receiving them which can delay the approval process.          

         b) Staff changes / vacancies

         Gabriella has joined the Reception team following Jilly’s departure. Additional office support will also be sought soon due to workload pressures. The Practice has a policy whereby permanent staff are expected to register with an alternative GP clinic within six months of appointment. As a training practice, there will also be a new ST doctor  - a specialty trainee  under the supervision of a senior GP - to replace Dr S Patel.  Additional medical students also expected later in the year.

         The practice allocates patients to specific GPs for the purposes of assessing their blood test results etc.  These are reviewed on a monthly basis to ensure an even distribution. However, patients may receive an appointment with any available GP.

5.      Patient Survey

         a) Formal acceptance of report

Mike produced a summary of findings from the recent patient survey of 204 patients attending the surgery in the week commencing 22 April 2024. The report was accepted and Mike was thanked for his considerable efforts on this task.  

         b) Comments and discussion

This year’s survey included new and amended questions to reflect changing NHS policies, new methods of service delivery, telephone consultations and the increasing use of technology. Provision of care within GP Practices now involves the more widespread use of health staff other than GPs. Accordingly, the term “health care professional” has been used throughout the survey to recognise this – the term intended to include GPs, nursing staff and others directly involved in patient care.  This means that a direct comparison with previous years’ survey results is not always appropriate.

The full report is to be made available in the surgery waiting area.

Members of the group noted that, of the 85% of patients surveyed who said they had access to the internet, 77% said they used it to contact the surgery.  Reasons for not using the internet included lack of confidence in using IT, a complicated web site and having several health issues which they preferred to discuss with a person.

Patients gave favourable responses in the following areas:

·         60% of respondents found the Reception staff to be very helpful. This had been an issue with a low rating area in previous years which the Practice has addressed with training and staff management

·         87% of responses were satisfied with the amount of time given to them in consultations by health care professionals in the Practice

·         73% thought the communication, care and concern given by health care professionals in the Practice was good.

Patients’ responses when asked whether they were able to be seen on the same day for urgent appointments rated lower at 27% than the last survey (43%).  The group discussed whether patients could have interpreted the question to mean a face-to-face appointment rather than a telephone appointment.  In devising future surveys this issue can be clarified and the group can also seek the views of staff in the Practice on potentially useful areas for feedback.

This survey necessarily focused on the views of patients attending the surgery and therefore having face-to-face dealings with Practice staff. It’s recognised that this excludes those unable to obtain an appointment and those with telephone appointments and is therefore not representative of all patients’ views. Further consideration will be given to how the opinions of those patients can be obtained.  The Practice currently sends out text messages following all consultations under the Friends and Family framework and seeks to identify any concerns. Periodically, postcards are also handed out to patients requesting their views.

Although not a survey question, anecdotal feedback to group members indicated that many patients were happy with telephone consultations for some ailments and in some instances preferred them, to avoid a journey to the surgery.

6.      Committee Vacancy

         There is currently a vacancy on the Friends group.  Malcolm has created a poster seeking members which has been placed on the Friends’ noticeboard but so far there have been no expressions of interest. He has agreed to produce further copies for other walls in the Practice. The group prefer to have a small group, enabling detailed discussions, rather than a very large group utilising the Teams system, although this suggestion may be reviewed over time.

7.      Any Other Business

a)       In response to a question regarding other clinics on the premises, Jill advised that the Practice also runs clinics including microsuction (ears), minor ops, coil fitting, injections and baby immunisations. Additionally, there are clinics managed by other organisations including a child physio clinic and a foot clinic.

b)      Jill is continuing to seek recommendations on potential uses for the donation recently bequeathed to the Practice. There is some reluctance to spend the funds on the building as it’s not owned by the Practice and is managed by NHS Property Services, with the Practice renting around 70% of the rooms. Her suggestion is that the money may be used to improve conditions for staff.

c)       A room previously used for patient records can now come back into use as a clinical room as all records have been digitalised.

d)      The tree and floral area outside the Practice - initially planted by Judith - is looking particularly pleasant and the group is grateful to the volunteers (a staff member and her husband) who are maintaining it with new planting.

8.      Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for 9am on Wednesday 23 October 2024.

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