Minutes PPG meeting Monday 5th March 2018. 12:30 to 14:00.

1. Present: Marilyn Miles, Paul Young, Betty Young, Suzi Colley, Norman Kay, Dr. Meikle, Sally Millett.

2. Welcome to visitors. Tracy Young Youth Worker.

3. Apologies for absence: Pat Coyle, Richard Easthope.

4. Minutes of last meeting. 1st November 2017. Accepted.

5. Increasing membership of PPG. Norman Kay had invited Tracy Young to talk about how best to improve the involvement of young people.

a. Tracy will talk to her different age groups about the surgery and what to expect when they visit. A group went down to look around during last year, but it was only a small number of the younger ones.

b. Dr. Meikle advised there are times available for young people to have a personal visit, usually around 16:00.

c. There is a Video tour of the surgery on the Prices Mill web site (under opening hours tab). This was purchased by the surgery as a way of helping patients who may have anxieties about attending the surgery. The video allows patients to take a tour of the whole practice, including taking a look in a GP and Nurse room. Tracy felt this would be a good approach to the older ones. The youth club has a Facebook page where information can be put.

d. Tracy is no longer able to offer the sexual health drop in sessions at the Arkell centre due to lack of youth club staff. In 2017 the surgery recruited a dedicated Sexual health nurse Natasha Brown. Natasha has a wealth of experience and expertise working both in GP surgeries but also in hospital sexual health clinics. Natasha is the counties sexual health nurse trainer. She is available at the surgery all day on a Thursday – appointment needed. A bid was made to Public Health England for Price’s Mill to be a hub for a new ‘drop in’ service but unfortunately this was not successful. It is still hoped by the surgery that the number of clinics Natasha provides can be increased, with some drop in made available.

e. A question was raised about substance misuse support but there is no local group available.

f. The Junior Wardens course. The suggestion was made that some PPG members and perhaps a surgery representative could visit one of the sessions to answer any questions and to ask them about what they see as barriers to visiting the surgery – e.g. confidentiality in the reception and waiting area area – and to ask if they have suggestions for improvement in the service offered. There is an online service for booking appointments.

g. Dr. Meikle reminded us that under 16’s do need some adult support – does not need to be a parent.

6. Dementia Friendly GP practice.

a. Accreditation. There is no single body to award accreditation. Prices Mill Surgery continue to work towards making the surgery Dementia Friendly

b. Action from survey/audit of the practice done by Sally Millett and Marilyn Miles after the last PPG meeting. Signage has been improved in some areas and others are on the list to be dealt with.

c. There is now a Dementia Nurse at the surgery, Lisa Newton, from the 2gether Trust. A letter was sent out to patients who have been diagnosed and their carers to ask how they found their experience of attending the surgery and asking for suggestions to improve the experience. The results will be reviewed by the surgery alongside the results of the standard patient survey.

7. Other changes in the practice:

a. New staff. There is a GP Partner who has joined the practice. Dr. Tom Malins.

b. Community Well-being Agent. This post is now a combination of the old Village Agents and Social prescribers. The service is provided under contract by the Independence Trust. The surgery have been considering the possibility of having a ‘café’ on a regular basis at the surgery for more vulnerable groups of patients. Suzi Colley has raised this with Laura the new Community Well being Agent as something that could be supported by them. Laura was particularly interested in the idea for patients who are lonely and in need of company. Therefore an idea is to have a social/friendship morning on a Saturday to address loneliness. Sally Millet raised the possibility of making a link with Arkell centre if this happens.

c. Chloe Phelps. New Health Care Assistant. She has come from Gloucestershire Care Services. Chloe is a trained HCA but will be receiving training specific to general practice. She is able to do regular BP checks and some dressings as well as taking blood. The surgery’s Phlebotomist, Helen Goode, is upskilling to be an HCA so that the surgery is able to offer a more comprehensive service to patients.

8. Closure of Lloyds pharmacist:

a. This has caused considerable problems for patients highlighted by Jonathan Duckworth, Town Mayor. There was very limited communication between the two chemists prior to the consultation. The one in Millyard could not share information about prescriptions and as a result there have been long delays in getting repeats sorted out. Because of the volume of work which Old Market chemist is now coping with there is requirement for repeat prescriptions to be asked for at least two days in advance from the surgery and then allowing a further two days for the pharmacy to get them ready.

There is also a knock-on effect on prescriptions sent electronically. There are a very large number of prescriptions on the repeat programme on the Lloyds computer – their system does not sort them alphabetically. Lloyds are a private company and did very little to facilitate a smooth hand over of information. They still hold the pharmacy licence for Millyard.

b. Marilyn agreed to make inquiries to try and find out how dispensing licences are allocated and then contact Lloyds HQ to ask what they intend to do with their 2nd licence for Nailsworth.

c. Suzi had been in touch with the new Lloyds Manager Natasha before the PPG meeting and was told that a new permanent full-time pharmacist was to start from 13th March. The surgery invested last year in a clinical pharmacist for six hours a week to see if further improvements could be made to the surgery systems. Her work is ongoing but has involved reviewing the surgeries repeat prescriptions processes to make the system as easy as possible for patients, and to provide some 1:1 training to staff.

d. Over the holiday periods there is a serious lack of chemist cover – only one open 24 hours for the whole of Gloucestershire.

9. Town meeting 28th April 2018. NHP have been offered half a table as has the dementia friendly group. We agreed to have the practice newsletter available for the stall. Marilyn will forward the Minchinhampton PPG leaflet to everyone to see if we wish to have something similar for the stall.

10. feedback from PPG cluster meeting. November 2017 and February 2018. Minutes of these 2 meetings have been circulated.

11. feedback from recent PPG county meeting February 2018. Unfortunately no representative from Nailsworth could attend the latter meeting but the chair of the PPG cluster (Stroud and Berkeley Vale) had made notes and these have been circulated separately.

12. Any other business:

a. Accessible information. Surgeries are obliged to provide information in accessible formats. There are to be some information sheets created to be given to patients and put on the website. They aks what ways would patients like to receive information. Is there a need for alternative languages, or braille? Need for a hearing loop?

b. On the Prices Mill web site information is available about extended hours in the Surgery 6 30 to 7pm for those at work also 1st and 3rd Saturday mornings

c. Improved access to GPs. Surgeries within our cluster have joined together to supply extra GP hours 3pm to 8pm daily and every Saturday morning. These will be held at different surgeries on a rotational basis and will be offered to patients if they need a more urgent appointment than available at Prices Mill. There will be a combination of appointments, pre–booked and urgent. Pre-booked need to be done through Prices Mill. There will be no access to patients’ records without their consent.

d. Independence Trust Combination of Village Agents and Social Prescriber roles. Now we have a Community Well-being Agents Laura Smith. Seems to be very well informed. There is a possibility of her being on site for one morning a week.

13. Date of next meeting: 18th June 2018. 12:30. Price’s Mill Surgery.