1. WELCOME, APOLOGIES and MATTERS ARISING
PRESENT Patients: Pat Banks, Hilary Calvert, Mimi Colahan, Maria Constantinidou, Kirsten de Kaiser, Jill Fraser, Isky Gordon, Kathy Graham-Harrison, Nancy Hogg, Patricia Langton, Gill Walt, Manor Wong
Practice: Stephen Yaxley
APOLOGIES: Patients: Angela McRobbie, Adriana Santos Davila, Ian Critchley, Donatella Soldi, Veronica Brinton Practice: Sarah Worboys,
MATTERS ARISING: The July meeting in the garden was mostly social, and everyone appreciated the chance to talk to others in an informal setting. The green inhaler initiative is being worked on, and the practice will report back when it is ready to start. Feedback on the complaints system will be given at the PPG meeting in November,or February.
2. REPORT BACK FROM VOLUNTEERS IN RECEPTION
- Blood clinic (run by UCLH): Patients need a personalised form (TQUEST) to get their blood taken. James Wigg patients queue at reception, wait for the practice to print them, before they go up to room 22. Patients from other practices bring them from their own practice. Any patients who arrive without their TQUEST are sent back to their own practices to collect them. Phlebotomy is not a walk in service. All patients have to make an appointment before appearing with their forms. Volunteers noted a number of patients from other practices sometimes arrive without the form or without an appointment, and often express frustration and annoyance.
Stephen Yaxley is writing to the Caversham practice on this matter.
- Reception traffic: Volunteers report back on the queue: 60% of patients are for In-Health, 40% for James Wigg & Queen’s Crescent. Of this 40% 1 in 5 are for blood forms. Although there is an average of 8 minutes wait to get to see a receptionist, the queue builds ups quickly when a patient has a complication. Volunteers noted that when there are 2 members of staff behind the desk the queue is reduced and traffic flows faster. This is also true when a reception member comes out from behind the desk to check who is waiting in the queue. There is rarely more than a 15 minute wait.
3. FEEDBACK FROM SUB-GROUP MEETING WITH RECEPTION IN JULY
- Telephone and appointment system: Patients continue to be unhappy with the system and would prefer a call back system or to be told where they are in the queue.
- Prescriptions: there continue to be issues around repeat prescriptions. Time and work could be saved if medications could be synchronised.
- Not enough reception staff: reception staff have too many tasks to do, 200+ emails a day and e-consults have to be processed by end of day.
4. QUESTIONNAIRE ON NEW APPOINTMENT SYSTEM
The questionnaire on the new appointment system (which applies only to James Wigg and not Queens Crescent patients), was sent out to the PPG email list. Patients could reply directly. As reported at the meeting, not everyone had filled it in, because they had not had an appointment in the past 6 months. Those who had used it found it simple to complete. The practice is planning on putting it on the website.
5. CPPEG FEEDBACK ON BLOOD PRESSURE HOME MONITORING
Kathy reported back on a presentation at CPPEG on a new borough wide initiative: home monitoring of blood pressure (BP). It will be aimed at two groups: those known to be at risk and those who are not. The practice will get a supply of BP machines to lend to the 2 groups of patients. This should free up some nurse appointment times. Volunteers can also help people check their BP on the machines in the reception area.
6. PRACTICE FEEDBACK
- Staffing changes:
- Sammy has left, Pal Bhambra, starting in October, is a new non-clinical partner, helping to improve communication processes and management of the practice.
- One new pharmacist
- One trainee nurse
- 15 new trainee GPs across both practices, many in their last year of training
- Appointment system data
Continuity of care has improved and appointment waiting times reduced. More data will be presented in November
- Vaccine programme:
- Flu vaccination will be available at KTHC from mid-September, and Covid boosters on Saturday walk in clinics in October.
- A Polio vaccine program has been set up for children up to 9 years old.
- Patients over 65 years can also go to a number of pharmacists for both covid and flu vaccines (see nhs.uk/get-vaccination) for a list. Some have walk in clinics as well as appointment systems.
7. EXTENDED HOURS ACCESS
From October the practice will be open on Saturdays from 9 – 5, and there will be an evening surgery on Tuesdays.
The next meeting will be on Thursday December 1st.
