Notes from PPG Meeting on 31st October 2022
Present: Gill Brook (GB) Vice Chair and Chair of the Meeting
Amy Cheape AC, Mary Haines MH, Georgie Kemp GK, Julie Hapeshi JH, Steve Talbot ST, Andrew Wrightson AW, Sandra Nicholson SN, Salina Wathen SW (late arrival)
Online: Lorna Carter LC, Bernie Fishpool BF, Christine Hart CH
Apologies: Kevin Gannaway-Pitts KGP (PPG Chair), Zareen Ahmed - ZA, Dr Sam Kuok -SK
Absent: Neil McNiven NMcN (Risk and Compliance Manager), Kate Edgar - KE (Standing down temporarily)
Welcomes, Introductions and Apologies
Started with introductions and welcomed Lorna Carter as new member of the PPG.
There were no conflicts of interest.
Notes from the Last Meeting
Notes of the previous meeting
(the AGM in July2022) have been approved by Sam Kuok, and Kevin will read
through and give final confirmation shortly. The members present agreed they
were a true record of the meeting
IMPORTANT NOTE: It was discussed and agreed
that ALL reports for the AGM must be written submitted to the Chair and vice
chair before sending out to members prior to the meeting. The key points only, from
the full report, will give verbally at the AGM by the author or agreed
presenter. New points of information will not be provided unless agreed by the
Chair and the Vice Chair prior to the meeting.
Actions from the last meeting
Notes of the previous meeting (AGM)
have been approved by Sam Kuok, and
Kevin will read through and give final confirmation shortly.
· ACTION KGP to
review AGM minutes for final approval before the next meeting in January 2023
Improving the inclusivity of
the PPG: The PPG should still be attempting to make the PPG members more
representative of the practice, as a whole, to ensure that those who are less
represented are also heard. This may not be through membership but the PPG
meeting with those who are less well heard for their experiences of the Service
etc. This will need to be a bigger piece of work and should also consider those
patients who are not frequent users of the Service and who have little contact
with the service.
· ACTION for
further discussion at the next meeting as agenda item (GB to add)
PPG Badges: There
was a discussion with agreement that PPG members should wear their PPG badges when
on the premises (at all surgeries). Not all members have PPG badges. There was
also discussion that the first name of the PPG members should be on the badge
ACTION: GB to seek lanyards and PPG
badges for all members. Having agreed with the Chair (KGP) for first names to
be on badges
PPG awareness by staff and
patients: There was also a suggestion that many people still don’t
know what a PPG is about – its purpose and interaction with the Practice
ACTION
· GB to seek
opportunities with NMcN to explain the membership and purpose of the PPG with
AMP staff
· GK is undertaking
a piece of work through the Communication, Engagement & Digital Group to refresh
the PPG notice Board with PPG purpose and membership which includes our
photographs and a short piece on each member on their background and why they
joined the PPG. GK will be in touch with
members on this matter.
PPG Constitution The Constitution
has been amended to add information in relation to the recruitment process of
members. The addition of the process as an appendix is required.
· ACTION GB to contact
KGP for this item
There will be an update on how
the AGM is run.
There also needs to be greater
emphasis on making all documentation accessible and there is a suggestion that
a working group might be useful to investigate what is already available
including its accessibility in both style and physical access yo this this more
formally.
· ACTION AC will review
what information is currently available for patient as a starting point. AC to
feedback before or for the next meeting. CE&G Group to agree away forward
after receiving this information
There is now a mental health
(MH) nurse (Gemma Hayward (GH) in place and there is a social prescriber for
mental health. Helen Richardson (HR) has also joined the MH team in the role of
Social Prescriber.( Helen has already met with GB in relation to the WTW Group
offer. Going forward there may be an
opportunity for members of the PPG to support the team in some way e.g., those
members of the PPG who put their key area of interest in the Mental Health
working Group may contact Gemma (GH) and Helen (HR) to explore this offer
agreeing what can be offered to them.
Information and learning: Amy Cheape (AC)
Reception and Operations Manager - her role
AC introduced her role and the
Care Navigation process. AC manages the
receptionists and works alongside medical staff, planning rotas, etc. Medical Receptionists have received care
navigation training that was developed by Dr Sam Kuok and the Partners to make
sure that patients were seen appropriately by triaging patients. A GP is always
in place as the Navigation Doctor for the day. The Care Navigators can refer to
this GP for advice guidance.
AC samples calls for training
purposes particularly with new members of staff as part of their induction
support.
AC has plans (after System One
is installed) to increase awareness of care navigation roles on social media to
help patient understand the role. There
are several levels of roles and a comprehensive training programme for staff to
work through.
There were queries about why
there are not two care navigators on the desk when there are long queues of
patients to reduce the issues. AC is
recruiting new staff with the intention that going forward there will always be
two on reception.
There were
queries about staff retention and AC said that it can be a demanding role, and
this can contribute to the retention of staff members. Members
respectfully suggested that may be an increase in the pay of the medical
receptionist/ care navigators should be considered to help with retention.
AC also explained that the care navigators also process the
e-Consults.
When System One is installed,
there should be shorter queues as the current checking in process is managed by
an external company. When System One is
live, checking in should be more reliable.
There was also a query about the positioning of the parking pads and
there were some discussions about repositioning them.
Coloured areas across the
building – at the moment the coloured areas are not
working as they should as there is confusion about what is where. System One should help resolve this.
GK suggested that the patient
booklets and leaflets would benefit from maps of the floors and car parking.
· ACTION AC noted
this. GK and JH to consider this in production of patient information booklet
with the Practice
Practice update
There was no practice update
for this meeting.
Request from Practice to
review and agree the delivery of Enhanced Service requirement by AMP.
This is a national requirement of GP
practices to offer times out of hours that suits the overall population of
patients. See Enc 3 - the summary document with
links prior to this meeting. There is a requirement for PPGs to review
discuss and agree the practice delivery.
The model of delivery for
enhanced care was discussed and PPG members were asked if they had queries or
any additional points to make. The primary query was whether if the model was
adopted it would be reviewed and changed if necessary. AC explained that there
will be ongoing monitoring and amendments if required.
The PPG agreed the model of
delivery in principle. GB asked if AC could provide feedback on how the
delivery and uptake was progressing at future meetings AC agreed
· ACTION GB to add
to agenda for January meeting
General
discussion: There was a question about whether advance appointments were
available. AC said yes, but all PPG
members have experienced being told by receptionists that they must ring for
appointments on the day.
· ACTION AC said she would look into this.
PPG Subgroup update reports:
· Communication
Engagement and Digital Group – written report supplied prior to the meeting. Enc
4
GB asked the Group to note the
ongoing work of this group including the review of feedback from patients/
carers, from various sources, including the annual national GP Patient Survey
and the Friends and Family test. The key themes from this feedback related to
gaining access to services (appointments/ telephone response stimes, queues at
reception etc) This was a problem for many GP services both locally and
nationally. AMP had scored lower some other Primary Care Networks in the area ,
The Practice were very active in seeking
improvement e.g. telephone call back service etc) bur this information need to be fed back to patients
– The group were actively working on information to be posted on a second
notice board( PPG Notice Boards) in the form
of ‘You Said ..We Did’ poster. The feedback log was reviewed. The group noted
the initial greeting by receptionists that was raised by the Comms group had
already been picked up by AC and was under ongoing monitoring
Improving access to useful information for patients: GB confirmed the work of the Group in this field. It was explained that start this work was in reviewing the information proved for registering as new patients, with further information on processes being developed with the Practice e.g., how get an appointment, how to get test results. How to get repeat medications etc. The principle used in reviewing& writing is using Plain English – with links to translation whenever possible. The group work plan was shared.
· Armed Forces Veterans Focus Group Update (verbal
through GK)
In the absence of KGP, GK had received an
update from Rachel Bucknell (Nurse Specialist) in the Practice, as the key
practice link for this work . The practice is accredited as a veteran friendly
service. The certification however runs
out at the end of this year and needs to be reapplied for.
Coding of veterans attending
AMP: There were also questions as to whether the offer of some PPG members to
undertake the coding of this group of patients was required/ could be
undertaken by them as there still appeared to be a backlog. The decision was taken by the Practice that
due to the confidentiality; this would not be taken up.
PPG members can direct
people to the Veterans page on Aspen website
GPs are aware of Op courage and are actively sign posting but we know there are frustrations around wait times.
Other support for veterans
: ‘Op Courage’ – this is the NHS service that provides specialist
care for those Armed forces veterans suffering from a mental health crisis... ‘Op Courage’, the veterans’ mental health service from the NHS
(veteransgateway.org.uk)
And local services – ‘YourCircle’ is a great place to look at current community support around veteran support
Aspen PPG WalkTalkWalk Group (report provided prior to meeting, Enc 5)
The Group still requires
ongoing support from PPG members to continue the walks. Some patients are able walkers and there are
requests from the group for this to become weekly.GB asked the PPG again to
consider supporting this successful activity
The Aspen PPG WalkTalkWalk
Group has received their award for the work they are doing with the group. They received a BBC Radio Gloucestershire
“Make a Difference Award 2022” in the Together Award Category were awarded a
Highly Commended. Members congratulated GB and SN.
AOB
Communication to patients about
the changeover to System One(S1) from EMIS. PPG Members were asked
for their views on the communications that have been sent in advance that
introduced the changeover to patients.
AC explained what it is and
what it will do going forward.
There was a query about how
patients will get meds if they have forgotten.
There are concerns that the system will let people down. AC confirmed
that prescriptions ordered in advanced would already by sitting with the
pharmacies before the cut-off date.
The PPG queried why patients
couldn’t have a text to tell them about the system upgrade with instructions,
AC said that there was a range of comms planned for this.
PPG support on S1 Go live date: The PPG had offered support through KGP to support ‘front of house’ on the ‘go live’ date – 29.11. 2022. GB will clarify what the support required & the role of members. She will email those members offering support.
Dates of the next meeting: January 2023. Date to be confirmed
