Patient Reference Group Meeting Held at Caterham Valley Medical Practice Thursday 26 th February 2015 at 6pm

Transcription

1 Patient Reference Group Meeting Held at Caterham Valley Medical Practice Thursday 26 th February 2015 at 6pm Present: Dr P F Roberts Dr J M Lewis Dr R E P Wright Dr P Hamilton Mrs V Gillespie Mrs D Hill Mr T M Bowen Mrs P Bowers Mrs H Hammer Mr A Harmer (Part Time) Mr D Harvey Mr D Roberts Mr A Sly Mrs H Smith Apologises: Mrs M Jobbins Mr A Jobbins Mr M Pearce Mr E Abel Mr D Butler Mr J Sevant VG thanked everyone for attending and commenced with a review of last year s Action Plan. 1. Appointments to be opened up at various times over a 4 week period. VG confirmed that a third of routine appointments were opened up 4 weeks ahead, another third 2 weeks ahead and the rest 1 week or 2 days ahead. When this was first introduced it had a mixed reception and some very popular doctors did still get very booked up, but for others it meant there were a number of book ahead appointments available each day. 2. Raise awareness of the online booking for appointments and prescription service. The practice had endeavoured to raise awareness of online booking of appointments and prescriptions by including details of the service:- a) on the practice website b) in the practice leaflet c) on the right hand side of prescriptions d) on the welcome message on the prescription line e) on the message screen Jayex board f) in certain patient letters. It was confirmed that there were more patients using the on-line system although at present the practice was unable to provide what percentage of the patient list this represented.

2 Dr Wright advised that not all on-line appointments were taken up, but assured the group those not used were released for booking in the usual way. The question of how the practice dealt with patients who did not attend their appointments was raised and it was confirmed that those who persistently fail to turn up are sent a letter and in extreme cases patients are advised that they will only be able to see doctor via the Open Surgery and an alert is placed on their record. Mr Harvey asked if there was a particular group of patients who did not attend their appointment. Dr Wright confirmed that it was often asthmatics who failed to attend and this had been highlighted recently by a review of asthma deaths across the whole country. The reason for non-attendance is that when the patient feels well and not using their inhalers; they decide and they do not need to attend their appointment. Unfortunately this means that their condition is not managed effectively and they are at greater risk. 3. Contact Tandridge Council re Parking Restrictions VG advised that she had contacted Tandridge Council who felt that there was adequate parking at present. VG reminded the group that as well as the practice car park there was parking available for up to three hours on Harestone Hill. Mr Harvey mentioned that he had presented a petition to Tandridge Council with regards to current planning policies in Caterham and the lack of provision for sufficient parking for new properties. VG said that she monitored the car park as often as possible and had various notices to place on windscreens to deter future parking by those not genuinely visiting Eothen House. 4. Advise Patients of the Likely Waiting Time in Open Surgery. VG confirmed that patients were advised of the likely waiting time when they book in for Open Surgery and were given the option of going away and returning at a given time. This had proved very popular with some patients, whilst others still preferred to sit and wait. It was decided that it should be continued. Mrs Smith asked that it be noted that she and others felt that the Open Surgery was an excellent service. I Want Great Care VG explained the introduction of the family and friends test, in the form of I Want Great Care which is intended for patients to leave feedback about their experience at the surgery on each occasion they visit. I Want Great Care can be accessed via their website the practice website or paper version available in the practice. The friends and family test has been in place since November 2014, became mandatory in January 2015 and has replaced the annual patient survey. To date there have been 22 reviews which represents less than 1% of the practice list. The feedback has generally been positive and VG read out some examples of the reviews received so far.

3 VG emphasised that practice welcomed the feedback and would continue to take all reviews seriously. VG also said that as part of the inspection process, the CQC would look at the reviews and any information they deemed relevant would form part of their report. Friends and Family has been running in the Hospitals for 2-3 years. Mr Sly said that in his experience East Surrey Hospital have improved since this was instigated. It was suggested that I Want Great Care be advertised on the message screen and that the paper version of the feedback form be placed on the chairs in the waiting room for patients to complete. Appointments VG advised that the practice was struggling to meet the demand for appointments and were constantly looking at ways of improving access. The question of having bookable appointments up to 9 months in advance was raised but it was explained that at present appointments were only bookable 4 weeks in advance because the doctors did not know more than six weeks ahead what their obligations were likely to be, eg requirement to attend meetings. Late evening appointments are offered on Tuesdays from 6.30pm to 7.30pm and Wednesday mornings from 7.30 to 8am and aimed primarily at commuters. However, these slots are often taken up by patients who do not need to be seen outside normal hours. The question of whether nurses could undertake triage was raised. Dr Wright explained that more time would be required for a nurse to triage a patient and would therefore lead to less triage slots. It is quicker for a doctor and is ultimately the doctors responsibility to decide how best to manage a patient s condition. SMS Text Service The question of whether a text could be sent to patients reminding them to attend the surgery for their appointment could be instigated. VG said that there was a cost implication but would investigate further. Dr Wright Appointment to the Board of the Clinical Commissioning Group for East Surrey Dr Wright informed the group that he had been appointed to the CCG board and would no longer be working at the practice full time. Dr Jane Harcourt has been appointed to cover Dr Wright s absence and because we are aware of the demand for extra appointments she will also be working an additional day each week to help meet demand. Flu appointments on-line The question of booking annual flu jabs on-line was raised as a potential project for the practice. VG explained that these appointments need to be booked appropriately as they are targeted at patients who are at risk, eg over 75s, asthmatics, diabetics, etc. The Practice currently either sends an or a letter inviting the targeted population to attend for their flu vaccination as well as promoting the campaign via posters in the waiting room and local pharmacies and on the welcome telephone messages.

4 Promoting Services Provided by the Practice It was suggested that the practice might like to use some free advertising to promote various services offered by the practice, ie flu jabs and Julia Church at the Caterham Independent was suggested. It was also suggested that perhaps a member of the Group might like to write an article about the practice. Electronic Prescribing The practice will soon have the facility to use electronic prescribing. A meeting will take place on the 17 th April when the practice will learn which pharmacies will be available on the system and the practice hopes to go live by the middle of June It will be an opt-in service and will initially be for repeat medication only. Patients will be able to nominate the pharmacy they wish to collect their medication from. Doctors will authorise and send prescriptions to pharmacies electronically. There will also be a facility to track the status of a prescription. Members of the group felt this was extremely useful in that it will provide a record of exactly what has been requested and when. This was considered a good idea and will be promoted as further on-line access to patients. The Group asked whether pharmacists could be used to treat patients. Although it was agreed that experienced pharmacists could prescribe medication such as the morning after pill and were very good at giving advice and treating minor ailments, more serious conditions needed to be treated by a doctor. Federation 8 to 8 Working It was explained that 18 practices within East Surrey have formed a Federation and had submitted a bid to the Prime Minister s Challenge Fund to be used to improve access in Primary Care. If successful practices in East Surrey will be open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am and 5pm at weekends in two Hubs, one in Caterham and the other in Redhill, using an integrated computer system (EMIS) giving GPs access to patient records. It is hoped that this will alleviate the demand on A&E. The GPs felt that the 111 service was not effective and very costly to deliver. It was confirmed that the Minor Injuries Unit at Caterham Dene would still be available. Dr Roberts advised that the funding from the Challenge Fund would only be available for one year. Possible savings made from decreased use of A&E, the 111 and the out of hours service may provide funding for its continuation. On-Line Access to Medical Records This is an opt-in service which will enable patients to view their personal records. The information available will be medical problems, medications, allergies and immunisations. Patients that already have access to the online prescription and appointments service will still need to inform to the practice if they wish to have access to their records they have to be individually activated by the practice.

5 East Surrey Patient Reference Group Mrs Bowers mentioned that she attends the PRG meetings held at Nutfield Lodge and finds them very informative. Unfortunately only two patients from our practice attended the last meeting and she wondered if practice could promote the dates for these meetings and urge patients to attend. VG did say the dates were published (when available) on the practice website and circulated to all our PRG members. VG suggested that if this Patient Reference Group wished to meet on a more regular basis it could be arranged. Car Volunteer Service Helen Hammer brought the above service to the attention of the Group. She has a team of volunteer drivers who will take patients either to hospital appointments, shopping or anywhere else they have difficulty in getting to. The charge is 50p per mile. Information is posted on the front door and on the surgery notice board. Helen asked if this could be promoted on the practice website. Any Other Business Mr Harmer arrived at the end of the meeting and gave apologies on behalf of Mr & Mrs Jobbins and Mrs Pearce and who could not attend and wished it known that they were very happy with the practice. One question raised by Mr Harmer was regarding the triage service. He had requested a triage call but unfortunately when the call was returned he was not at home. He asked if there was any way that patients could be advised as to what time they would be contacted. VG explained that it was not possible to ascertain what time a doctor was likely to return a patient s call, as it depended on a number of factors, such as the length and urgency of the telephone triage list. However VG did say there was a facility to leave a brief comment below the on-screen appointment slot, so if a patient were not going to be available at a certain time, it could be noted Main Action Plan 1. Increase number of appointments Practice to employ another doctor. 2. Increase awareness of the Friends and Family test and I Want Great Care 3. Further promote the on-line services and increase the number on-line appointments (3 month trial) Actions to Consider Investigate text messaging service Proposed - one of the PRG write an article to promote the services of the practice