Minutes of meeting – Monday 7th July 2025, 7pm

 

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Present

Jean Poole ( Chair and secretary), Dr Vicky Smith, Anna Rushowski, , Tess Munden, Rob Munden, Barbara Bird, Ann Tunstall, Mike Woodward, Maureen Woodward, Lorraine Lambert

 

Welcome

Jean thanked those attending

 

Apologies

Trudy Gwatkin, Ellie Rees, Lee Atkins

 

Approval of previous minutes

the minutes of 7th July 2025 were approved by the group. (Note:- meeting planned for 6th October was cancelled)

 

Matters arising from previous minutes

  • Telephone system – the message received by callers has been reviewed and adjusted as much as possible ,to make it more user friendly but still include important details
  • E-consult – well used and successful. Now open from 8am until 6.30 Mon - Fri
  • Patient information sessions – A speaker for “Women’s health” is still under discussion. Nutrition is another subject that would be useful. Dr Smith to investigate speaker options and suitable dates.
  • Anna explained about the free service in the library provided by digital champions to assist those who need support with on line access. It might also be helpful for a specific patient information session to be provided to help with the NHS and econsult – to be considered
  • It was noted that some local pharmacies had stopped doing automatic repeat prescriptions, so understanding the ordering process on the NHS app would prove helpful to those patients affected
  • Car parking changes –The new system of inputting car registration numbers when attending appointments is working well. The council owned car park continues to have plenty of spaces available so patients are able to park easily.
  • NAPP membership – Jean advised the group that the membership of the National Association had not been renewed as agreed . NAPP have now taken the decision to close anyway in the coming weeks. Information from the Patients Association, which is free, remains informative and is cascaded regularly to PPG members

AGM – deferred from October

  • Chairs report – Jean read her report for the period September 2024 to December 2025 , which was acknowledged by the meeting . ( report attached to minutes)
  • Election of officers – although there were fewer committee members present than usual , it was agreed that the election of officers could proceed. Trudy Gwatkin had advised of her vote prior to the meeting in her absence.
  • Jean Poole was proposed and re-elected as chair and secretary with both Tess and Rob Munden being re-elected as joint vice-chair
  • Jean thanked everyone for their continuing support.
 

PPG issues

  • Flu/Covid clinics feedback – these went well again in the Autumn and PPG support was much appreciated. The Spring campaign is likely to start in April and is expected to cover the same eligible group ( 75 + and those with certain health conditions) PPG support will be planned when details are known
  • Surgery re-decoration - this had gone well with some disruption as expected, but the meeting agreed that the surgery looked much fresher. The new flooring was particularly admired and makes the ground floor look more spacious.
  • Jean asked if the furniture was being upgraded and Dr Smith explained that it was hoped to consider that in a future financial year , after other building maintenance tasks are dealt with.
  • Lung cancer screening programme – some concerns had been expressed about the communication process using texts, letters and phone calls used by the screening team and some inconsistency had been noted. 3 members of the committee had been invited with different experiences. Information had already been fed back to the practice manager.
  • 2026 meetings – it was agreed that quarterly meetings worked well – dates to be identified by Jean
 

Courtside Issues

  • Staffing update – Dr Lee Stevenson had joined the team , working Mon and Tues. Dr Hawkins is due to return from maternity leave in February. There had also been some HCA changes over recent months
 

AOB

  • Green community transport – a new shuttle bus service to Southmead has been launched covering Jan/ Feb. Details to be sent out to PPG members. Information has subsequently been added to the surgery Facebook page.
  • Patient appointment log in screen – following a upgrade to the surgery computer system , the current log in system was not compatible and will require updating . This is expected to be done in February . In the meantime , patients need to report to reception.
  • Paperwork to accompany urine samples – it was noted that the slip accompanying the specimen, no longer had space for patients to provide information of symptoms, as previously. – Anna to discuss with the team
 

Date of Next Meeting

  • Next meeting – Monday 23rd March 2026
  • Subsequent meetings – 15th June, 14th September ( incl AGM) , 14th December