Patient Group Minutes 

The minutes of the Patient Group meetings are below.

PPG Minutes

Minutes of South Park PPG 13th September 2022 

Present Jo Peters, Jenny Elliott, Rose Bates, Lucy Gladdish, Lesley Harvey, Nicky Sherning. Colin Harvey 

Apologies  

Mike Mellish, Ertain Ali Fiak. 

1. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising. 

Correction of names of members present was noted and the date of the meeting was 18th May 2022. 

2. Covid and Flu vaccinations at the Practice. 

Covid vaccinations for the over 75 and the clinically vulnerable cohort will start on the 22nd of September. After this the over 65 group, followed by the over 50s will be targeted. The vaccine will be Moderna. 

Flu vaccinations will start at the practice on the 8th October and after the 15th October will be offered to over 50s and vulnerable groups such as diabetics. 

3. Practice update.  

The Practice continues to run well and there have been no staff changes since the last meeting. 

Darren Tilley will re-join the Practice shortly in his previous role as medical physician.  The Practice is currently advertising for a Health Care Assistant who will help with medical checks and health screening. There are no G.P. or nurse changes.  

4. Extended hours access. 

From October there will be a limited ability to book appointments outside normal surgery hours. These appointments will allow coverage from 6.30 until 8.30 Monday to Friday and on Saturday, with available appointment times to be announced. These appointments will be held on a rota basis across the different Sevenoaks PCN practices and must be booked through South Park reception, irrespective of where the forthcoming appointment will be held. Full details will be added to the website before the new system starts.  

5. Access to Patient records. 

The NHS is committed to giving patients access to their medical records. The new target for this is November of this year. From this date patients can request full disclosure of all their past and current medical records. When the system starts details will be added to the practice website. 

6. Telephone access. 

While there are periodic problems of extended response times the system was functioning well. There is a forthcoming meeting planned with the telephone system supplier to try and overcome some of the difficulties. 

7. Patient complaints/comments 

The Family and Friends feedback system has been extended to allow Practice staff to offer patients the option to give their views after each visit to the Practice. This is an excellent development and allows for a summary of results. These will be available on the practice website and allow comparison with national figures. The results so far show South Park in a very favourable light. A notice will be put on the noticeboard to encourage patients to provide this valuable feedback. 

 Waiting times in the surgery can vary depending on emergencies or other conflicting priorities. To help manage expectations receptionists will be asked to give an approximate estimate of waiting times when patients check in.  

8. Website 

Jo still has to advise when the series of updates and changes highlighted after our review of the website have been completed. 

As well as regular update of the website it was agreed that Angela would also be responsible for ensuring Notice boards are kept up to date and offering good access to all relevant information. 

9. A.O.B 

A There are 45 Ukrainian refugees are now registered with the Practice. There has been heart-felt appreciation of the service they have received so far. 

It was clarified that the practice remains open all day but the telephone system is shut between 12.30 and 2.30 allowing for lunch breaks and updating on administration and health issues. 

It was noted that the current format for PPG meeting being held at lunch time at the practice does limit who can attend. This means that the PPG views maybe biased towards that group. It was agreed that before suggesting any changes we would give patents the opportunity to give their views on whether they would join the PPG committee if the meeting were held at a different time such as early evening. Alternatively would Patients participate by sending in issues they would like to see discussed? A questionnaire will be produced to allow for patients to give their interest of intent. 

Copies of minutes for previous PPG are available, please ask at Reception.

Last updated 19th October 2022