MINUTES of CREWKERNE HEALTH CENTRE PATIENT FORUM (PF) HELD on Thursday 20Th June 2013

MINUTES OF CREWKERNE HEALTH CENTRE PATIENT FORUM (PF) HELD ON Thursday 20th June 2013 AT CREWKERNE HEALTH CENTRE

Present: David Hughes (Chairman), Kerry Cousins, Tesa Budd, Joan Farris, Annie Gleeson (Secretary), Louise Walker. Also attending – Karen Dodge and Angela Brookes from Hardington WI

1. Apologies: Apologies had been received from David Colwill, Neville Adams, Jayne Nicholas and Bob Meades. DH welcomed Karen Dodge and Angela Brookes to the meeting.

2. Flu Fun Day Planning: This event will be held on Saturday 5th October at the Henhayes Centre in Crewkerne, from 9am to 3pm, with helpers (working in shifts) arriving at 8.30 am to set up. Some preparation will take place on Friday afternoon/evening. The Clinical arrangements will be the responsibility of the medical staff and the PF, with the assistance of the Hardington WI, will organise the sale of refreshments, cakes and raffle tickets at the event.

After some discussion it was agreed that a Sub-Committee Working Party should be set up comprising: David Hughes, Joan Farris, Tesa Budd, Dreda Corlett. Bob Meades (nominated in his absence!), Karen Dodge, Angela Brookes and Sue Phillips from Hardington WI, and Debbie Stokes who has co-ordinated the refreshments at the event in previous years. It was suggested that Biddy Martin and Ann Down (former PF members) could be approached to help on the day. LW confirmed that flyers advertising the event will be sent from the Practice to the patients and a notice requesting donations for raffle prizes will be displayed at the reception desk. In past years, raffle donations have been made up into hampers for prizes and people have also been encouraged to make cakes to be sold at the event.

It was decided that the Working Party should contact Waitrose, who had supported the event in past years, for a contribution to the refreshments and the raffle. It was agreed that this letter will be sent under the auspices of the Patient Forum, and LW offered to send it out from the Practice, with Dr Gilson’s signature. The contact at Waitrose is Doug Rogers. With regard to possible numbers attending LW confirmed that between 1050 and 1100 appointments for flu vaccinations would be available on the day.

Some discussion took place regarding the distribution of the money raised by the event, which in past years has always supported the Children in Need charity. It was decided that all the proceeds from the raffle should go to Children in Need, with the money raised from the refreshments distributed equally between Children in Need, the WI and The Patient’s Forum.

It was agreed that the Sub-Committee will meet at the Health Centre on the 18th July at 7.00 pm. The Chairman thanked Karen and Angela for attending the meeting. /page 1

3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Matter Arising

LW confirmed that a representative from the Compass Carers Group will attend the July PF meeting and that Dr Sarah Pearce hopes to be able to attend the September meeting to talk about the Clinical Commissioning Group developments.

AG proposed belated thanks to Kerry for giving up her time to attend the CLICK meeting in April.

JF reported on the meeting with doctors at the surgery, with DC and TB also in attendance, to discuss the telephone consultation procedures. In response to a question as to whether there are going to be changes to the current system, LW agreed to update the PF at the July meeting. She said that it was hoped to have an update on the on-line appointments system soon, and that the ultimate object of the exercise was to make sure that the most unwell people were at the front of the appointments queue. DH expressed a concern that it was important to make sure that the patient group knows how the system is working.

4. Patient Forum Publicity Update

JF reported that she is continuing to work, with her husband, on the PF Publicity material. She felt that the Flu Fun Day would be a very good opportunity to publicise the PF to a wider group of people. It would also be an opportunity to have a group photo of the PF group to go on the notice board as well as, possibly, inclusion in the local paper.

6. Patient Participation Group Development Day

Annie reported that this had been an extremely interesting and informative meeting, with representations from a wide range of patient groups in the County. A brief summary of ideas – as well as more detailed notes of the day’s events - were distributed to PF members to read at their leisure! It was decided to put this topic on the July agenda for further discussion.

5. Dreda Corlett”s Profile

Dreda entertained the PF group with a brief life history of her work as an Occupational Therapist. She has been involved in a variety of different areas as an OT, primarily working with Social Services, and moving into a Management Role toward the latter part of her career. /page 2 7. Any Other Business

DH had received a letter from Margaret Grizzell requesting interest from PF members with Diabetes to take part in a research project with GPs, CCG staff and Exeter University. There was no immediate response from those present at the meeting and it was decided to canvas the wider PF group, including the Virtual Group.

DH reported that Roger Smith has decided to resign from the PF and had written to him to explain his reasons. This letter was put on file. The PF will now need to find a new Treasurer.

LW asked members of the PF to contribute any comments and suggestions regarding the Health Centre brochure that is about to be reprinted. (TB suggested details of the on-line Repeat Prescription system next to the “Useful Phone Numbers” information inside the front cover.)

KC asked if there had been any developments on the Telehealth scheme in the Somerset Area. This involves patients using equipment in their own homes to monitor the status of specific health issues, a system that was intended to build confidence in the patient about their condition and reduce the impact on the emergency services, including A & E Departments. LW reported that the system had ‘flagged’ somewhat following the departure of the Community Matron who had been responsible for coordinating the system and collating the data. She believed that there were attempts to set up a central monitoring system in Wellington and suggested the topic could be put on the October agenda by which time she will endeavour to get some more up-to-date information.

TB commented that she was concerned to find that the NHS Choice website includes assessments of doctors, often based on just one person’s view! LW said she found that people looking to register with a particular practice are far more likely to ask around locally for a recommendation.

Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 23rd July at 7 pm /page 3