Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 6th December 2021 at 19.00hrs
Present: Cec Smith (Chair), Margaret Perrin (Secretary), Frank Soden. Tracy Doel, Jane Ingham. Charlotte Gorman. Shayne Smith, Jenny Walker.
Apologies, Denise Richards, Miriam Nicholls, Alastair Knight (Vice Chair)
Minutes of the last meeting were agreed. Proposed Jane Ingham Seconded: Frank Soden
Matters arising from the previous meeting. Nil.
Cec Smith Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.
Surgery News:
Charlotte the practice manager has applied for a grant from NHS England as the practice wishes to install hard flooring for most areas in the building, this will help with infection control, this is also a compliant by the CQC. This work must be completed by 2022/ 2023. Charlotte explained that the work would have to be carried out at the weekends to alleviate disruption for everyone.
From 8.11.21 there were more face to face appointments available, patients were also given a choice of a telephone call if preferred.
The front door is now permanently open, but the reception staff were still having to remind people that they must always wear a mask which sometime causes friction with patients.
Staffing:
A new GP Dr Swanborough has started at the practice.
The surgery at present is advertising for an additional GP but to date no one has applied.
One new pharmacist and an advanced practitioner, have also been appointed
Surgery Update:
The doctors have increased their appointments each session by 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.
Charlotte stated that there were 6 staff behind the scenes answering telephone calls which included appointments.
The surgery has employed six more staff who will be working in the reception / administration area to help with the workload in that area.
New workstations have been installed behind the reception area and there has also been improvements to the telephone system to help with the management of between 1500 and 3200 calls per day the practice receives
Charlotte reported that enquiries regarding Covid take longer to process than normal calls, this takes up not only staffing time but the telephone lines.
The surgery has signed up to the Community Pharmacy Consultation Scheme:
The aim of this service is to improve access to primary care by referring patients who need advice or treatment to a community pharmacist.
Date for the last Covid session at the surgery: 11th December
Patients can book an online appointment if they choose at one of the local vaccination centres if 185 days have passed since their last covid vaccination.
The surgery is not offering any further Covid vaccinations at present as they are planning to concentrate on the backlog of patient work during January – March 2022.
Parking:
Charlotte explained to the group that she had the car parking issue in hand and would report back to the group when she had any further information. The owners of the building will look at the suggestions made by the practice at the next annual rent review.
Other Issues:
There have been several patients who have applied to join the PPG. A cap of 14 members was set a few years ago. At present there are 14 members of the group including Charlotte.
The group are going to discuss at the next meeting whether they should add to the constitution a clause stating that if PPG members miss 4 meetings in a year they could be asked to resign depending on personal circumstances. This clause would be added at the next AGM in August if sanctioned by the group members.
One member of the group was informed that he would receive a call from the doctor, he waited in all day but did not receive a call until the following day.
Charlotte to investigate.
It was agreed by several members that being informed of the number you are in the que when telephoning the practice was most useful.
A member of the group had received excellent service from the practice. He telephoned the surgery; he attained an appointment with the doctor and was immediately sent to GWH.
Meeting closed: 7.55pm
Margaret Perrin, Secretary
Meeting dates for 2022
| 7th February |
| 4th April |
| 6th June |
| 1st August AGM |
| 3rd October |
| 5th December |