Download PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP MEETING 26 NOVEMBER 2014

PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP MEETING 26 NOVEMBER 2014
Present:
Patients
Brian Lightoller
David Ward
Bob Radford
Simone McAllister
Hannah Alonso Whittaker
Liz O’Sullivan
Jo Winskell
Sylvia Long
Val Loomes
Eric Richards
Brian MacLaren
Gordon Yonge
Tony Kirk
Pam Coling
Mary Wallace
Jackie Holloway
Present:
Staff
Dr Sodipe
Dr Prathap
Gill Howes
Lindsay Alger
Janet Frankland
Sue Morgan
WELCOME
Dr Sodipe welcomed everyone to the practice and hoped it would be a productive meeting.
Everyone introduced themselves.
SURGERY TEAM
Janet, our lead receptionist, advised that there is a team of 11 receptionists and 2 prescribing clerks who all
deal with queries, faxes, A&E forms, post, scanning, booking appointments, answering the phones and trying
to assist patients and the clinicians alike. It is a very varied role. Queries they cannot solve there and then
are forwarded to the doctors for their advice. Janet advised the phones still do not seem to be working
properly. Patients say they have called, but the phones are not ringing.
Gill, Practice Manager, advised she helps to ensure the smooth running of the practice, dealing with all staff
and patient queries, and together with her assistant, Sue, - IT, claims, CQC, QOF.
Lindsay Alger, Nurse Practitioner, advised that Nurse Practitioners came into being when there were
problems of recruiting more medical staff especially in poorer areas. It was decided that perhaps the nurses
could do more and received advanced training and so the role developed. It started in the USA and it proved
to be a very satisfactory solution.
Nurse Practitioner is not a recognized qualification and many can call themselves it without the correct
training. Lindsay however has qualified by doing a 3 years course at Southbank University and is now an
Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
She advised that she sees patients with minor ailments and illnesses. She had previously been a practice
nurse for 18 years with a diploma in Long Term Conditions. Her role has been tweaked at the surgery in
order to try to provide the best possible service to our patients. She usually has an open surgery and sees
problems on the day. She works closely with the Duty Doctor when required.
She does not do steroid injections, fit coils, sign sick or death certificates. However, she can prescribe
medication and refer to the hospitals. She is a member of the MDU.
Dr Sodipe advised that the partners have total confidence in Lindsay, she is highly skilled and that they chose
well in appointing her and that she has been well received as a member of our clinical team by most of our
patients.
TOPICS SUGGESTED BY THE GROUP
Receptionists – were complimented
Continuity Care once discharged from hospital
Is the NHS ‘dying’ on its feet as suggested in the media?
Our telephone provider
When results come in could they be emailed to patient?
Could we have a triage nurse here?
No shows – wastage of appointments – should these be publicised?
The group should meet once a quarter
TELEPHONE SYSTEM
We changed our provider in March this year having sought advice from other practices and our IT
Department and thought we would be addressing a lot of the problems encountered by our patients on the old
system. Unfortunately this is not the case. The main issue appears to be the length of time waiting.
Although some patients thought it had improved. We have already had the telephone company back to
amend problems, but we obviously need them to return again. Among the changes that we need to make are
amendments to the message and why everyone appears to be 4th in the queue. Two members of our group –
Hannah Alonso Whittaker and Simone McAllister have offered help with sorting the phone system as this is
their area of expertise.
ONLINE APPOINTMENTS
We offer online booking of appointments as an alternative to telephoning the surgery. However, it was
pointed out that there only ever seem to be appointments for 2 female doctors and it can only be booked 2
weeks in advance. We will speak with our software company to change this. Are we providing enough
online appointments? The patients felt if they knew the patient/doctor ratio they would understand the
problem. However, it is not possible to increase the number of doctors so patients need to be educated about
self-help and speaking with their pharmacists. Some appointments are unnecessary. Could we consider a
triage nurse? We need to encourage more self help and consult local community pharmacists for minor
illnesses.
The group felt that perhaps the triage system could have worked as we probably never heard from the patients
that were happy with it just the ones who complained.
SERVICES
How can we improve our services to our patients? We could offer more information on the telephones and
the Jayex board. A newsletter advising patients of the services would be welcomed.
We could improve the online booking and also the online prescription requests. A lot of medication is wasted
as the pharmacist asks for all the medications whereas they may not all be needed. We could be more
proactive in asking patients for their email addresses.
Some of the group felt that the online system was not user friendly, however it is not something that we can
change since it is not our software.
BROMLEY HEALTHWATCH
This is a group who describe themselves as consumer champions and will be coming to the surgery during
the next few weeks to explore the patient and public experience of health and social care services. They will
be listening and observing how the surgery operates.
CARE QUALITY COMMISSION INTELLIGENCE MONITORING (CQCIM)
CQC statistics show Addington Road Surgery to have had an under average response for patients requesting
and able to see the same doctor (doctor of their choice). The group felt that if they were asked the question
whether they always saw the doctor of their choice they were likely to have answered ‘no’, but they were
happy to see any doctor with an acute problem, but wanted to see the same doctor/doctor of their choice
where the problem was ongoing. It was highlighted that more part-time doctors made it difficult to have
doctor continuity. The overall feeling was that the ability to see a doctor had improved, especially with the
duty doctor system where you would be seen for urgent or emergency health issues. Although it was not
always possible to see the doctor of your choice, patients felt if they were prepared to wait then they would be
able to.
NHS
Dr Sodipe explained that the nature of the practice has changed. More hospital work is being performed in
surgeries now. In fact, 90% of NHS work is done in primary care but inexplicably receives only 10% of the
NHS budget.
A&E URGENT CARE CENTRES
Some of the group were unaware of the Minor Injury Unit at Beckenham and UCCs and felt we should
advertise these services either on the surgery website, Jayex board or the notice boards around the reception
area, although some admitted that they did not, in fact, read the notice boards or website. Perhaps a regular
newsletter. We would try this as a pilot study and would request feedback from the group.
THANK YOU
Unfortunately, time ran out to discuss anything further.
Dr Sodipe thanked everyone for attending and for all their comments.