Location of Meeting: Aspen Medical Practice and Zoom
Welcomes, Introductions and Apologies:
Meeting Chaired by: Kevin Gannaway-Pitts
Attending at Aspen: Mary Haines (MH), Steve Talbot (ST), Gillian Brook (GB), Bernie Fishpool (BF), Fred Wood (FW), Julie Hapeshi (JH), Sandra Nicholson (SN)
Attending Via Zoom: Dr Nicky Wilson (NW), Georgie Kemp (GK), Salina Wathen (SW), Bill Singh (BS)
In Attendance: NIL
Apologies Received: Katherine Holland GCCG, Ashley Bowkett (AB), Christine Hart (CH), Kate Edgar (KE), Andrew Wrightson (AW)
Non-Attendance: Nick Osborne (NO), Zareen Ahmed (ZA), Michele Bonner (MB), (KH), Linda Matthews (LM)
Resignations: Eve Butler (EB)
KGP announce to the group the decision that Eve has made to stand down from the PPG. Eve has been a driving force of the Carers work and will be missed by all those who knew and worked with her. She was passionate about representing the patients that used Aspen and always strived to ensure the patients voice was heard.
ACTION – To acknowledge Eve’s service to the PPG it was agreed to recognise her achievement and bid her a fond farewell on behalf of the Practice and PPG.
Conflict of Interests
The
following Conflict(s) of Interest were raised prior to the meeting taking
place:
· Kevin Gannaway-Pitts – Declared his role at the CCG with his employment.
Notes from the Last Meeting
The notes and action points of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed as a true accurate record of the meeting.
Proposed by Bernie Fishpool and seconded by Fred Wood
Focus Groups
The group discussed the progress made to date with the forming of the Veterans and communications working groups. The group reviewed the remaining work groups and agreed to combine some of the groups into one work group. It was agreed that further work is required, and a development session will be dedicated to scoping the remaining groups along with terms of reference to support each group. We also discussed the realistic commitment to each group and for members to think about what they can commit to in order that we can resource the groups accordingly. The interdependencies to each group is also an important factor to ensure we do not duplicate work.
ACTION – KGP to arrange a development session in place of the October meeting and look for an outside facilitator to conduct the session
PPG Constitution
There were no points to be raised and we will keep this as a standard agenda item in order as the PPG matures, we will amend the constitution following recommendations from the floor or through the development of the PPG.
PPG Leadership Position
Following nominations for position the following appointments:
Chair – Nominated by Christine Hart and Georgie Kemp that Kevin Gannaway-Pitts should be considered for the post of chair.
Proposed by Fred Wood and seconded by Bernie Fishpool - Carried
Vice Chair – Nominated by Kevin Gannaway-Pitts that Gill Brooks should be considered for the post of Vice Chair.
Proposed by Fred Wood and seconded by Sandra Nicholson - Carried
PPG Secretary – Nominated by Kevin Gannaway-Pitts that Kate Edgar should be considered for the post of Secretary.
Proposed by Steve Talbot and seconded by Gill Brooks – Carried
It was agreed that each appointment will serve for 1 year in office to continue to develop the PPG and this will be reviewed at the 2022 AGM in accordance with the constitution.
Armed Forces Veterans Focus Group Update
GK has looked at the SAFFA and the services they provide, she also needed the veterans aware leaflet completed in preparation for flu clinics.
ACTION – KGP to review and update the leaflet
Aspen PPG “WalkTalkWalk” Group
GB and SN covered the purpose of the WTW Group which is supported by Aspen Medical Practice as part of the healthy living programme. Communications were agreed by KGP and NW and Advertised through the Practice Patient Texting System, Newsletter on the website and the Practice social media.
Responses GB and SN both responded to all emails as sent, giving a warm welcome and more information as required (very time consuming). This includes who we are and a disclaimer as below
Participation in Patient Participation Group (PPG) activities is taken at the individuals own risk. The Practice cannot be held accountable if any injury occurs. If you suffer from a health condition you should consult with your GP to ensure you are fit to take part.
Dates of walks: 23 Sep 21; 30 Sep 21; 02 Oct 21(Sat.) and 14 Sep 21.
There has been a very good response e.g. 25 booked on 23 Sep 21 so far others may turn up on the day and those having a positive experience may attend other walks. Response included enquiries from Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist Nurse (GHC NHS FT)- will promote as appropriate along with the Health and wellbeing Advisor (Carers Hub)
Communications & Engagement
GB gave the group a brief on the meeting held on Tuesday 21
September 2021 .0900 – 10.00 via Zoom
and the purpose of the group, which is, to share discuss with the Communications
and Engagement Group the feedback from patients and agree key actions to help
improve key areas and inform patients of actions taken. The key discussion points of the meeting
covered:
Patient feedback and the sources where FFT survey,
Facebook, GP Survey and Complaints and concerns were captured and will be
shared to build on how the PPG communicates with patients and understand
concerns raised. The group decided that
we will feedback in the form of ‘You said… ‘We Did...’ would be helpful to
patients to inform them that actions are being taken and to explain the reality
of the challenges faced with the current demand.
Other points discussed were the development of a video on
the process of accessing appointments, explaining Care Navigators roles and the
process of enabling the patient to access the right help and information. This
would be relevant across all Gloucestershire and we will investigate this with
CCG digital front door work. Information
for patients on the different job roles of staff in the practice will help
patients understanding the meaning of Care Navigation as practice transform to
new ways of patient care and delivery.
A discussion about having PPG members available in the Aspen Centre or at events (eventually) to help access & navigate the NHS and services digitally through the Digital Group and Comms will help patients with understanding the transitions going on.
Flu and Covid Clinic
A request from the practice for the support from the PPG at Covid booster and flu clinics has been received and shared with the group. The Risk and Compliance team will share dates with the Chair who will keep everyone informed of clinics being arranged, subject to vaccine availability.
A special mention has been recorded for Mary Haines who has already supported the children’s clinic and intends to support forthcoming clinics.
Practice Update
NW gave an update to the group about recruitment of staff and new admin staff that are scheduled to start. This will take time to induct and train staff and will be progressive to get staff up to the mark within the practice.
Waiting times on the phone: The practice realises wait time can be
prolonged and that patients feel frustrated when in the queue. However, the
practice is working to reduce this and have around 14 members of staff
answering the phone so this number should drop quickly. The practice is promoting the use of eConsult
for non-urgent issues as this helps to reduce waiting times and frees up the
phone lines for vulnerable patients or those who cannot access support
digitally.
Not being able to book a face
to face appointment directly: The practice is still operating a split site
model to ensure potentially infectious patients are kept away from other
patients and staff, especially those who are more vulnerable. They are actively recruiting more doctors to
provide additional appointments. However, with limited resources the practice
has to manage patients where it is safe and appropriate to do so on the phone. The practice has Doctors seeing patients face
to face every day who do need an examination, and this has been the case
throughout the pandemic. GPs have never been ‘shut’ or ‘hiding’. They do need time to train and upskill care
navigators to know which patients need a face to face review and who can be managed
on the phone and what a safe time frame for that patient contact is. It is
important to note that the practice has Navigation Doctor working within the
reception team, supporting them to book a patient directly for a face to face
appointment where it is clearly indicated. The message to patients if
approached about this matter is, if you can give care navigators as much
information as possible. Completing an eConsult also gives additional
information which helps navigate the patient to the correct place.
Not being able to book a nurse appointment for chronic
disease review: The
practice has recruited three Health Care Associates and two new Nurses. This
will create more capacity in the treatment room team for chronic disease
management. Our current nurses are also undergoing additional qualifications in
diabetes, asthma and COPD.
Reception appears undermanned: NW
said they generally have only one Care Navigator working the front desk. This
is to ensure patient confidentiality. We now have digital check in screens to
save patients waiting in the queue. We
also aim to have the upstairs reception desk manned and once we have a full
complement of staff, we will be able to do this more.
Lack of privacy at reception: We
understand that patients will not always feel comfortable speaking at the front
desk. If you need more privacy, please let our team know and you can be seen in
the patient room next to the reception desk.
Confusion over the different sites and signage: We have now updated our signage across all
three sites for continuity. These have been repositioned to be more visible and
clearly direct patients to the site. Both
the Aspen centre and Saintbridge surgery are being used for routine work with
doctors and nursing staff and the hot hub for potentially infectious patients has
relocated to the Tuffley Branch surgery at Warwick avenue. We hope in due
course all three sites will open back up as normal.
AOB – Nil
Dates of the next meeting - Wednesday
20th October 2021 18:00 – 19:30 This will be superseded by the
development session that will be arranged.
KGP thanked everyone for their
attendance and closed the meeting at 19:30hrs.
