CHURCH STREET PRACTICE Weybridge Primary Care Centre Weybridge Surrey KT13 8DW
Website: www.churchstreetpractice.nhs.uk Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01932 828200 Fax: 01932 844902 Appointments: 01932 826025
SUMMARY NOTES MADE OF THE CHURCH STREET PRACTICE PATIENT REFERENCE GROUP (PRG) MEETING HELD THURSDAY 19th NOVEMBER 2015
Present: PRG representatives - Mrs Gill Harvey-Bush (GHB), Mr Steve McCarthy (SM), Mrs Pat Notton (PN), Mrs Sathiavathy Nesarajah (SN).
Practice representatives: Dr Lindy Fozard (LF) GP, Mrs Veronica Millis (VM) Management Partner, Chair, Mrs Yvonne Crockford Carer Liaison administrator.
Summary Notes: Mrs Geraldine Brooks (secretarial team leader)
Mrs Yvonne Crockford – How we look after Carers registered at Church Street Practice.
1. Yvonne gave a review of the care we give to Carers registered at the Practice. In summary:
What additional services we can offer – flexible appointments, home visits, flu vaccination, health checks (on request), referral for back care and exercise schemes.
Information on external support services.
Training attended by staff – Young Carers, Alzheimers awareness.
GP Carers Breaks – funded by Surrey Independent Living Council
See attachment for full details.
2. What’s been happening since the last meeting……….
Newsletter March 2015, detailing changes in staff with Dr Senduran and Dr Rastogi leaving and Dr Grocock and Dr Trathen joining us. VM noted that considering the current climate and difficulties in recruiting GPs, we were very fortunate to have found two excellent GPs. PN commented that she and her husband were very impressed with Dr Trathen after a recent consultation (10/10!). SN commented that Dr Brown is always efficient and well organised. Dr Patel is now back from maternity leave so we are fully staffed once again. Sister Mary Braddock has retired, which is a huge loss to the Practice. Her enthusiasm and expertise will be sadly missed but she found an replacement in Sister Louise Gebhard who like Mary is a diabetic nurse specialist and in addition a nurse prescriber and will be continuing Mary’s role within the North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group (NWSCCG).
Contracts – We are moving from PMS (personal medical services) to GMS (general medical services). Whilst this means a reduction in our budget it should not have an immediate impact on patients and we will do our best to ensure this continues.
EPS (electronic prescribing) – How has it been since our last meeting? Better experiences expressed so far. SN to try EPS with her preferred pharmacy, although she says that the man who collects them likes to get out and talk to people! More training is due early next month for staff.
IBIS – is the name of the software computer package and involves the transferring of medical information to the Ambulance service in an attempt to reduce hospital admissions. It means that the paramedic can access more up to date medical records at the scene and enable them to make decisions about whether or not to admit, particularly out of hours. Feedback so far is encouraging and the information sharing has resulted in a significant reduction in avoidable admissions.
IAPT counsellor –is holding clinics on a weekly basis in one of our clinical rooms.
Ultra Sound Scanning on site – the CCG have commissioned a private ultra sound service (The Integrated Care Clinics) to help cope with the demand for ultra sound scanning and therefore reducing the waiting time. Clinics are held in surgeries around the local area and we have one/two session each week. This service is in addition to the Ashford and St Peter’s ultra sound service.
PN asked how this service integrated with the Hubs? As far as we were aware it does not integrate with the Hubs. The first Hub is due to open in December in Woking. The Hub will be a one stop facility for the frail and elderly over 75’s, with co-morbidities, with the aim of reducing hospital admission and for them to be treated it he community at a ‘one stop’ clinic. This will involve GPs, community matrons, district nurses and consultants. In addition this should impact favourably on GP practices.
Federation of practices planned,42 in NW Surrey.
3. Review of Patient Information Leaflet
Designed to inform patients of realistic expectations following comments from the Friends and Family test, it was agreed the leaflet was fit for purpose. An addition of realistic expectations in terms of timescales for hospital appointments should be added, as well as prescription time scales. The reason for the leaflet is the continuing increase in workload and more demanding and difficult, sometimes even aggressive patients. SM asked how we intended to impart this information? Website, GPs to hand out at consultation, from reception, include in registration packs and added to the Practice booklet. We will prioritise investigating sending information via email. Regarding the Practice booklet, there has been a hold up in the provision of this. We spent a lot of time preparing and then the company that was going to produce it withdrew saying that they were having difficulty getting advertising. The booklet in its entirety will be found on the Practice website and when hard copies run out a summary will be provided. We are still required under our current contract to have this in printed format. PN suggested splitting it in to sections so that patients could decide what is relevant to them.
4. Friends & Family Update
The Government now asks us to keep information showing if patients would recommend us to friends or family. Questionnaires are available on our website, handed out by clinicians, at flu clinics and at reception. Comments are collated and produced on a monthly basis. VM went through some of these. The comments are anonymous and therefore hard to respond to if there is a complaint about a service. The responses from some of the questionnaires has helped in the production of the patient information leaflet discussed above. Our objective was to maintain 85% but we are struggling with this due to the lack of responses. Although a captured audience at recent flu clinics has helped increase the returns – in October 95% of patients said that they would recommend us to friends and family. Figures are published on the website and summarised in the last newsletter. Again, expectations play a part in a lot of the comments, hence the information leaflet.
5. Dr Fozard – working with the Prescribing Advisor
Dr Fozard as the prescribing lead, works alongside the Prescribing Advisor Sanjeev Sudera in managing our prescribing budget efficiently and effectively. Last year we spent £1.2 million on drugs and we need to reduce the budget in the forthcoming year by £ 35,000. Currently we have over 200 patients on 8 or more medications. Sanjeev is very helpful and proactive and gets involved in best value for money issues which can be difficult when trying to switch a patient’s medication. He will often contact patients themselves to explain things. He looks at medication switches and over using issues. He is involved in medication reviews. SM mentioned a conversation he had with Dr Carl Long, Consultant in Elderly Care who said that often he stops a patient’s medication to see what they are really like without it and then restarts what he thinks they really need. SN mentioned a particular success with a patient in her home who was on multiple medications for a significant length of time. The patient has now been weaned off them and is only on the necessary medications and is beginning a new life. Matters Arising
GHB Had a problem when her husband received a letter asking him to call and make an appointment with Sister Gardner, and when he called he was told that she was on leave. VM to investigate the timing of this automated letter being sent out.
SM Mentioned that he is involved with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an expert patient and is about to undertake his first inspection. He was asked to feedback anything useful for our impending inspection – date since confirmed as 8.12.15.
Everyone present agreed that they were very happy to be interviewed by the CQC Inspectors on the day.
End of Meeting: 7.15pm
Attachment: Carer’s review, Patient Information Leaflet Revised