Oct. 10, 2023
Agenda
Friends of Greystone House
Notes of Meeting held on Monday 10th October 2023 @6:30pm
Present:
Dr Pramit Patel (Dr P) Jacquie Clayson – For Practice Manager (JC)
Chairman (FC), TS, JS, SM, HW, Treasurer (LAR),
RA, LM, NQ, MOC, DL, MI
Apologies: Rachel Lynch (Practice Manager)
LM
KH - Health Champions - HC
BT
Minutes
FC welcomed everybody to the meeting especially new members and suggested that we all gave a brief introduction of ourselves.
JC reported that it had not been possible to hold the joint PPG meeting with Moat House surgery and that this meeting will be FoG only. (To be explained later)
LAR notified that he had received an Email from ‘Pam’ advising that Rev. DMJ was ill. As such, he will be resigning from Moat House PPG – we wish him a speedy recovery.
Finance Report
LAR reported on Finances as follows:-
Our current bank balance stands at £242.65 after a donation of £200 to the practice towards the purchase of a new patient motorised reclining couch. This item is now in place.
SM has agreed to be appointed as a trustee of FoG meaning that we will now be up to six trustees whose responsibility is to ensure that the charity is being run properly and with probity.
Practice News
Jacquie updated FOG members on the news from the surgery as follows:-
There have been no significant staff changes in recent months. New Practice Manager, Rachel Lynch joined in August with Nicola Brown appointed as Deputy Practice Manager.
The surgery continue to be extremely busy with high levels of activity in meeting patient demand.
Amalgamation with Moat House
The amalgamation with Moat House surgery and the larger partnership was effective from the beginning of October. The sign outside the front door has now been changed to show the new name of ‘The House Partnership’ with 10 named partners. JC confirmed that the medical records of both practices will be ‘merged’ as from next April but in the meanwhile patients will not experience much change. MOC asked for the reasons behind the merger and it was explained that there is a trend and encouragement towards larger practices. This offered economies of scale, less administration with common functions such as payroll and more flexibility as regards staffing and compliance issues.
JC further explained that the Moat House PPG were more a ‘virtual group’ and also formed along the lines of the ‘Health Champions’ approach. As such, it was not possible to hold the joint meeting as planned. More information to follow when known.
Other Issues
JC was also asked about availability of patient appointments. It was explained by Dr P and JC that we were also in a Primary Care Network (PCN) with three surgeries (Greystones, Moat House & Wall House) whereby additional appointments may be made at any of these surgeries in times of high patient demand. This offers an additional 48 hours per week of patient appointments with a medical professional across the network.
Dr P also advised that Dr Ivan Anderson will be introducing an initiative whereby patients encountering similar medical conditions may join together in a ‘self-help’ discussion group to share experiences for their mutual benefit.
A question was asked about the NHS app. which the practice website is based around. This app is continually being enhanced and if patients attending ESH opt in to the SASH portal, they may now receive hospital appointment letters/notifications via the app. with a text message also sent.
Health Champions
DL and MI provided an update on the Health Champions group. The weekly walks are popular with a good attendance. DL also advised that a First Aid course had been held for members and this went well. MI wishes to develop a number of initiatives to publicise the group and offer more activities. A meeting with Deputy Practice Manager, Nicola Brown is planned to discuss.
Any Other Business
No issues were raised
Date of next Meeting
Monday 11th December 2023 – 6:30 pm at the surgery.
(TS and JS offered their apologies in advance as they will be away for this meeting)