PPG: Meeting Minutes 15th Nov 2021

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• Date: 15th Nov 2021
• Time: 2:30pm via Zoom
• Attendees: Ingrid Babcock (IB) - PPG Patricia Idusogie (PI) - PM Ashok Jadeja (AB) - PPG Esther Meyerson (EM) - Chair PPG John Rokos (JR) - PPG Mary Weaving (MW) Deputy Chair -  PPG Jud Barker (JB)  - PPG Adrienne Banks (AB) - PPG Gary Beard (GB) HG - Ross Dyer-Smith (RDS) HG - Sheila Connellan (SC) HG - Sioux Thorn (ST) HG

Agenda Items

Welcome & Apologies:

EM welcomed all to the meeting. This is the first meeting with Hurley Group. Apologies were received from John Hadley, Mary Connolly, Viv, Victorine and Val.

Approval of Minutes of the last meeting (EM)

Last meeting Minutes were agreed. EM thanked ST for the questions and answer document she had put together.

Items arising from the last meeting

EM asked if there was any further information regarding the flu jabs? PI stated she had nothing further, except to state that she was sending out flu jab invites.

Two members in the group stated that they had received the invite for the flu jab even though they had already been vaccinated at a pharmacy. It was also mentioned that the flu vaccination information done at the pharmacy was not registering on patients records. PI informed the group that the flu vaccination data from the pharmacies may be delayed, but the information could be viewed on SONAR a platform where the vaccination taken by the pharmacies is housed. MW stated that we need to provide more clarity as to where patients could obtain the COVID Booster vaccination.

MW stated it would help to provide a link on the web site for patients to be able to book their boosters.

ST informed the group that the COVID 19 Boosters are not initiated at the surgery, but through Federated4Health.

SGP updates (HM,CW,PI)

GB & ST prepared a presentation to show what had been done in the first 2 weeks after taking over from Federated4Health. GB informed the group that it was business as usual on the first day. There were no major issues or problems and it was a successful mobilization and handover. The only issue that occurred, was the issue of prescribing, the prescribing code had to be reset.

GB addressed the issue of TUPE as this had been raised at the last PPG meeting. GB informed the group that the Practice Manager and the Reception Manager had been transferred under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment), Administrative staff was transferred under TUPE, Practice Nurses and Health Care Assistant were also transferred under TUPE. The Lead GP’s did not transfer and some salaried and Locum GP were retained.

GB informed the group that we had support on site from, Dr Ross –clinical lead, ST who is the Regional Manager, SC who is the Business Manager and PS (Paige Sharpe) who is the Service Development Manager. GB also informed the group that some of the support was also offered remotely and the slide showed the Medical Director and Deputy Medical Director Dr Nishma Shah, the Nurse Lead Sharon Fernandez, Shakira Watson Senior HR adviser Sara Ibrahim the training Manager and Aphinya Mankhong – PR and communications as some staff supporting the Practice.

ST spoke about the clinical staff such as the clinical pharmacist and the GP’s that are on site. Some of whom PPG members would know. ST said we had other staff through the PCN such as the FCP (First Contact Practitioner) and the Social Prescriber who coordinates some of the services were patients are finding difficult to navigate through the system. ST informed the group that there had not yet been a PCN meeting as we are waiting for PCN lead to arrange the meeting. ST informed the group of one of the challenges had been experienced in the first 2 weeks, revolved around the ability to recruit GP’s. ST informed the group that there is an advert out for GP’s, but we are also looking for clinical leads. It has been challenging getting GP’s in this current climate. ST mentioned that we are liaising with the PCN to find out what staff we can obtain via their recruiting process and to be part of the decision proces.

ST said that even though the telephone system we had was decent, it did not have the spec we need, it needs to be upgraded and we are looking at more digital options to manage the call volume. GB stated that one of the challenges is that the phone seems to be the only alternative to making contact with the practice and we are looking at other alternatives as the call volume is extremely high and not manageable.

With regards to the WIFI, BT has been contacted and NHS IT team is looking at WIFI systems of GP practices across the borough and a visit has been scheduled for the team to visit the surgery. With regards to the Web site, some data did not transfer over successfully. A meeting was held with EM, MW and SC to address the missing information.

Training is in process for staff, the plan is to be upskill reception and admin staff to have more skill sets. We are looking at workflow, the previous process was different, and we are working on going paperless, scanning in documents and looking at who should see or handle a particular document. The idea is ensure documents are scanned in on time and are available for patients to view online.

The Landlord is looking the Practice improvement, the areas that are been reviewed are the reception area, the consulting rooms to ensure that they meet the infection control standards.

RDS spoke about promoting the NHS app, as this saves a lot of work for the Admin team. With NHS app you can view your COVID 19 pass, medications, online consultations etc. It is designed to work with smart phones. EM stated that in the past the surgery was pushing for the Patient Access app and many patients were signed up for it. EM said that we need to provide an explanation as patients should now use the NHS app.

IB brought up the issue of continuity of care. ST said patients can see the same GP if they are willing to wait for an appointment. It is the aim of the Hurley Group to have continuity of care.

ST also brought up the Newsletter, and she said it would be a good place for the group to include tips for patients as to how they could improve their access to information. Also we could have information as to what a GP, ANP, Practice Nurse, Pharmacist or Health Care Assistant can do.

EM asked that everyone send their items for the Newsletter to IB, EM or PI.

The date for the next meeting date was discussed.

Any other business

None

Date of the Next meeting

January 25th, 2022 @ 3:00pm