Meeting Notes: Wednesday 30 June 2021 / 18:00 – 19:00PM
Meeting
Details: Online Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 868 2811 1860 | Passcode: Aspen
PPG Web:
Aspen Medical Centre
Patient Participation Group (aspenppg.blogspot.com)
Chair: Kevin Gannaway-Pitts (KGP) - Interim Vice Chair
Attending: Dr Nicky Wilson (NW), Eve Butler (EB), Christine Hart (CH), Georgie Kemp (GK), Sandra Nicholson (SN), Steve Talbot (ST), Julie Hapeshi ((JH), Kate Edgar (KA), Jude Morris (JM), Salina Wathen (SW), Bernie Fishpool (BF), Linda Matthews (LM), Fred Wood (FW), Andrew Wrightson (AW), Ashley Bowkett (AB), Pauline Mitchell (PM)
In Attendance: Katherine Holland GCCG (KH)
Apologies Received and Non-Attendance: Mary Haines (MH), Nick Osborne (NO), Georgina Shaw (GS), Pauline Mitchell (PM), Gillian Brook (GB), Zareen Ahmed (ZA), Bill Singh (BS), Michele Bonner (MB),
..................................................................................................................Conflict of Interests
- Kevin Gannaway-Pitts – Declared his role at the CCG with his employment.
- Katherine Holland – Declared who relationship status with one of the members of the PPG and is also a patient at Aspen.
Notes
from the Last Meeting
Paper
1 –
202105 – PPG Notes 26 May 2021 https://aspenppg.blogspot.com/p/ppg-meeting-28-apr-2021.html
GB Points
raised by email before going on Holiday:
Please can my comment be added on the
importance of us as a PPG to have an up to date understanding the wider picture
of the experience of patients from all sources of feedback, FFT surveys
compliments comments themes from complaints, CQC etc. (discussion with
KH and KGP to discuss this as a working review group)
- Responding to the points sent for the meeting
- Use all the feedback data on regular basis GB is happy to take active role to review patient feedback.
- Making access easier- provide explicit instructions on how to do this and various format and sources.
- Website, leaflets accessible at pharmacy and in the practice, as Covid restrictions decrease could run short particle sessions on how to get appointments etc.
The group has reviewed the notes and agreed they were a fair representation of the last meeting.
Proposed
by Steve Talbot and seconded by Andrew Wrightson
Actions
from the last meeting
Paper 2 – All actions and updates from the previous meeting were discussed and agreed by the group
Proposed
by Georgie Kemp and seconded by Dr Kate Edgar
Focus
Groups
The group discussed the title of the group and felt it would be more appropriate to call the groups “working groups” rather that focus groups.
KGP went through the groups and asked members who have put themselves forward to review how many groups they have expressed an interest in being part of and consider if they can commit time required.
The next steps is to provide everyone with a copy of the matrix and within those groups select a leader of the group. KGP will work with NW to see who the practice leads are in place as a point of contact for the groups.
EB gave a
high-level brief about the carers group, which covered the general help and support
they provide. Prior to Covid the group
met for Coffee and cake and invited support agencies to present at the meetings
covering physiological support, rest byte care, carers helpline. EB mentioned previous grants that were given
to fund literature for carers etc and asked if we can look at applying for
future grants, which can be an objective of the carers working group.
Armed
Forces Veterans Focus Group Update
GK updated the group on the progress made to date with the
group and explained that she has discovered a lot of information about Armed
Forces Veterans Health Care in Primary Care.
The first important point was knowing which patients are coded as
veteran and this is a gap where significant work needs to be focused on. NW said that the new registrations for
patients https://www.aspenmedicalpractice.nhs.uk/navigator/new-patient-registration/ ask
if patients were registered with an Armed Forces GP to capture new
patients. It is planned to run a
campaign to invite patients who served in the forces to notify the practice in
order to update their medical record.
GK informed the group that the notice board in the surgery
has been updated with current information supplied by the Practices Armed
Forces lead, which includes information regarding Op Courage. This is a service available for veteran’s
mental health and wellbeing.
KGP briefed the group that discussions were progressing
with a practice in the North West who are sharing information such as the
proud2care in 7 points. It covers topics
such as:
- The Armed forces Community
- Identifying members of the community
- Why it matters
- Supporting veterans
- The veterans gateway
- Busting Myths
- What can I do?
Further meetings are being arranged with walking with the wounded and linking up with south-west initiatives to share ideas to honour the accreditation that the practice has been awarded.
NW discussed how important this element of work is with supporting veterans and has used PPG members profiles as part of the Armed Forces celebration week on social media
Practice Update
NW gave the group an update on the current issues with the
practice that include a reduced workforce, double the workload without further
funding to cover the work, fatigued and burnt-out staff with no time off to
recuperate.
NW covered the amount of phone calls received by the
practice, which has seen a rise from 3.5k to 4.5k calls with no additional
staff to keep up with the demand. Hence
why patients are experiencing long waits in the queues. Going through some
slides to show the demand on services the following summary is a high-level
account of the situation.
- AMP clinicians did 22184 GMS consultations in Sep 20, 24228 in Oct 20 and 21669 in Nov 20
- Representing: a 66% increase over Sep 2019 (13436) and a 83% increase over Sep 2018 (12,097)
- A 57% increase over Oct 2019 (15429) and 61% increase over Oct 2018 (14998)
- A 55% increase over Nov 2019 (13936) and 40% increase over Nov 2018 (15453)
- The October rate is the equivalent of 9.7 consultations per patient per year (5.1 by GPs).
- For comparison, the GMS contract was predicated on a consultation rate of 3.5 per year.
Another key area of the challenges is in relation to
recruitment of staff. Across the county
this is a consistent challenge with workforce pressures and Aspen are competing
with another 20 practices in Gloucestershire to recruit.
Areas of interest - To help with some of the issues around staff moral etc, NW said that positive comments and feedback help the staff feel valued and encouraged PPG members to get involved on social media, this includes Twitter and Facebook.
NW also recognised the issues with patients queuing at reception and this will be resolved when the patient check-in screens are operational and will reduce demand on the reception.
AOB
LM offered to provide meditation and relaxation sessions for the staff.
ACTION: NW to offer this service to the partners and will feedback on the outcome of discussions.
JH Said a big thank you for the service her husband received with a F2F consultation.
EB raised
the opening of Warwick Avenue still being closed, this information was sent out
in the slides from induction session from the previous meeting and the
following was in the slides:
- Saintbridge will reopen and Tuffley will become the new covid Hub with an aim to phase out red and green streams asap and open Tuffley as normal.
CH explained to the group that her experience using eConsult was followed up by being offered an appointment, very efficient service and grateful to attend a F2F consultation.
BF enquired about the process for cancelling an eConsult as this is not clear and difficult to do. NW said this was a good point and will follow this up to free an appointment but also discuss with the team how this can be resolved.
ACTION: NW to feedback at the next meeting reference
the process and resolution.
Dates of the next meeting
Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday TBC 2021 | 18:00 – 19:30hrs.
KGP thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 19:30hrs.
