PPG Minutes: 1 November 2023

Time: 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Location: SMA Medical Centre

Attendees

Patients: 49 patient attendees in total (patient attendee numbers were supplied by NC and not named due to GDPR).
Co-chairs: Andy Agathocleous & Mumtaz Patel.
Senior Practice Manager: Nick Christou (NC)

Guest Speakers: Dr Patel (Lead GP and Hurley Group partner)
Apologies: There were no apologies of absence received.

Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the last meeting were made available to the meeting attendees and are available to all patients on the PPG area of the SMA practice website.
The minutes were reviewed and accepted by the attendees of the meeting as a true record.

Guest Speaker

Guest Dr. Patel gave a talk on the following health topics

Diabetes which included providing examples of good food and fruits to eat such as apples, apricots, blueberries, porridge, raspberries, brown rice.
Services provided by pharmacies (the majority of pharmacists will speak to a patient about their symptoms without a GP referral). New prescription medications can only be prescribed or agreed by a GP.

Patients were given the opportunity to ask Dr Patel questions on both topics and other health topics.

A guest speaker to attend the next PPG meeting TBC

Practice Update

Practice Nick Christou gave an update on the practice team:

Doctors: Dr. Sanjay Patel — Lead GP & Partner, Dr Shehla Oureshi — Associate Partner, Dr Henry Edung.
Three locum Doctors are covering for Dr. Oureshi due to maternity leave.
Dietitian.
Clinical pharmacists.
Physiotherapist.
Mental Health Practitioner.
Looking to recruit more GP’s.
More than 65% of our appointments are GP Face to face GP appointments.

NC to provide further updates at the next PPG meeting and update the SMA Practice website to explain what the addtional roles are in the practice.

PPG Health Awareness Event

3rd June 2023

This was by far the best supported PPG event with over 100 patients in attendance (patient event attendee numbers were supplied by NC)

Guests who attended the event included Dr. Patel (who answered patient health concerns on a 1—1 basis), Diabetes UK, Social Prescribers (Sharon Hanooman), blood pressure checks were carried out and a practice nurse was in attendance. Stroke UK sent an apology for the short notice of absence.

PPG Event Feedback

AA presented an analysis report of the 43 Patient Participation Group Health surveys that were completed at the PPG Health Awareness Event on Saturday 3 June 2023 and are summarised below:

Q1 Could you please let us know why you have come to the SMA medical practice today

Health Awareness Event 79% - Pre- Booked appointment 7% - Other (Both Pre-Booked and event) 14%

Q2 In the last six months have you requested and received a GP face - face appointment?

Yes 68% - No 30% - Other 2% (Question not answered)

Q3 If you were unable to speak or see a GP about a non urgent health concern would you accept a GP referral for you to see a pharmacist of your choice?

Yes 65% - No 21% - 14% Other

Q4 When you last contacted the practice, how long did you have to wait on the telephone to speak to the call taker?

1-5 Minutes 23% - 5-10 minutes 26% -10-15 minutes 26% - Other 25% (such as aborted the call, longer than 15 minutes).

Q5 Overall how did you find today’s event?

Excellent 28% - Very Good 21% - Good 19% - Poor 0 - Very Poor 0 - Other 32% (question not answered)

Q6 Would you like to receive information about the Patient Participation Group events and Meetings if YES please complete and provide your contact details:

35 patients have completed this section agreeing to receive information about PPG events and meetings.

Q7 Please list below any suggestions, recommendations or improvements that you would like to see at the SMA medical centre

More GP face to face appointments, be able to book an on—Iine appointment to see a GP face—face.
Make it easier for patients to obtain a specialist referral Including MRI scans.
Information on food & drinks risks, diet and exercise.
Negative effects of medication in the long term.
Health Checks.
Telephone consultations are showing on my medical records when I was not made aware of the time and date or reason for the consultation. The consultation is then recorded as the patient was not available.
Treat people equally.
Invite a Hurley Group Director to a PPG meeting or event.

Q8 How would you rate the service you receive from the practice in general.

Excellent 12% - Very Good 21% - Good 51% - Poor 2% - Other 14%Patient

Patient Questions

Seven Patients at the meeting had their own personal concerns and raised issues mainly relating to the findings in Question 7 of the PPG patient surveys completed during the PPG event. (NC to contact the seven patients individually to resolve their issues/concerns)
Posters to be displayed with contact telephone numbers for Waltham Forest GP federation Network (WFGPFedNetlwho provide GP appointments outside the normal opening hours of the practice including weekends. (NC to display posters contact details)

Work in progress

Provide a list or a pamphlet of the services pharmacies provide with and without a GP referral.
E-consult timings are 8am — 6pm Monday to Friday. There is an on-going discussion about whether the timings could revert back to 7 days a week 24 hours a day for patients who have a health concern.
Appointments to see a GP are triaged and filtered to the appropriate Clinician, this includes face to face appointments. Face—to—face GP appointments are at the discretion of the practice.
Negotiations are ongoing with the practice manager to reinstate on-line pre-booked face to face GP appointments & messaging services.
Why are promotional events such as PPG invites, patient surveys, pick up blood test forms, submit blood pressure readings and vaccination text message reminders to patients being recorded as consultations on the patient's medical records.

PPG update

SMA patients can communicate directly with the PPG chairs without going through the practice by using the confidential PPG email address. The practice will not be able to access the emails you send to this email address. If you have any recommendations or topics that are not health related that you would like to discuss relating to the practice or NHS, please use the email and let us know.

SMA patients can communicate directly with the PPG chairs without going through the practice by using the confidential PPG email address. The practice will not be able to access the emails you send to this email
address. If you have any recommendations or topics that are NOT health related that you would like to discuss relating to the practice or NHS, please use the email and let us know.

PPG chairs are recommending that all SMA patients obtain a password from the practice so that they can access and log into their medical records in Patient Access so they can view their medical records and order repeat medications.

Next PPG Event

Patients at the meeting said they would like to see at the next PPG health awareness day - health checks, specialist speakers on : Asthma, Health Lifestyle, Arthritis, Cancer, Sickle cell and invite social prescriber’s.

Next PPG Meeting

Thank you all for attending and input into today's meeting.

We look forward to seeing you all at the next face to face PPG meeting on the 6 March 2024 6.30pm to 8.00pm at the SMA medical centre.