Patient Participation Group

Our Patient Participation Group (PPG) meets to provide a forum for discussion about the practice.

Minutes of The Wells Medical Practice (TWMP) PPG Committee Meeting

To request minutes of previous meetings, please contact the practice

Date:

16 April 2024 at 12:30pm via Teams

Present:

Practice members:

• Elle Clarke (EC) (Office Manager)
• Louise Handford (LH) (Practice Manager) - joined the meeting late

Patient members:

• Husnara Begum (HB)(Chair)
• David Kirkham (DK)
• Roderic MacMillan (RM)
• Deana Leadbeter (DL)
• Mike Tyrer (MT)

Apologies:

• Lucinda Curtis (LC)
• Rachel Myers-Lamptey (RML) (General Practitioner)

Agenda:

• Anima update since last PPG meeting
• Feedback on the dementia awareness presentation on 14th March and discussion of plans for taking this forward.

1. Apologies

Rachel Myers-Lamptey (General Practitioner) gave her apologies as the meeting clashed with a PCN (Primary Care Network) meeting.

In terms of attendance at the meeting, it was noted that a reminder and agenda had not been sent out which might affect attendance.  A Teams invitation had been sent out in good time (as requested at the last PPG meeting) and so would be in diaries for PPG members whose diary systems accepted Teams invitations, but this may not be the case for all members.  It was agreed that having a reminder and agenda a few days ahead of the meeting would be helpful.

2. Introductions

This was the first meeting that MT had attended and so he introduced himself, and all those attending the meeting gave brief introductions for MT’s benefit.

3. Anima Update

LH joined the meeting partway through this discussion.

Both positive and negative comments regarding Anima were shared at the meeting, and there was discussion on the way forward taking account of these comments.

Positive comments

• In general, the number of patients using Anima online had reduced the volume of phone calls, and hence the waiting time.  Previously there would be about 25 people in the queue, and this had reduced to about five in the afternoons.
• In particular, the surgery reported the use of Anima meant demand on the Tuesday following the two-day Easter Bank Holiday had been manageable, which would not previously have been the case, especially as some of the GPs were off unplanned on that day.
• The use of the phone back facility was also mentioned as being helpful.
• HB reported she unexpectedly found that Anima can be used to obtain blood test results, and this was much easier and more efficient.  It was however noted that many patients would not be aware of this facility and would incorrectly assume Anima could only be used to obtain appointments.

Negative comments

• Some negative comments on social media about the difficulties with the use of Anima had been shared with PPG members.  It was recognised that using computers and smart phones is not easy for some patients meaning using Anima online would always be difficult for them, even if support was available for registration and how to use the system.  It was unanimously agreed important access through other means continues to be available for such patients and that they are reassured about this. Increased online use of Anima should bring benefits to this group of patients by reducing queueing times when phoning the practice.

Way Forward

• As mentioned at the last PPG meeting, it was recognised that Anima is a third-party system provided nationally, meaning the practice has limited scope for requesting significant changes to be made to it, but there is some flexibility in how the system is used by the surgeries that adopt it.  To date, eight local practices have rolled out Anima with each one using it slightly differently.
• One aspect of using Anima over which the practice has control is the guidance provided to patients.  It was suggested it would be helpful to have some guidance on what can be done using Anima that people might not realise was possible - “top tips”.  This would be in additions to FAQs.
• In the information provided it would be helpful not just to report positive progress but also to acknowledge where there may be problems.
• Further information on progress with Anima registration would be helpful, and also information on how patients are accessing the practice (using Anima online vs phone contact vs visiting the practice)
  • Note: Following the meeting LH emailed to say: “We currently have 12,433 out of our 19,838 patient list size registered onto the Anima system.”
• It was suggested that, now Anima has been running for a few months, it would be an appropriate time to send out a further open letter, to summarise progress and benefits – but also recognising problems and how these have been addressed.
  • Note: Following the meeting LH emailed to say she will work with HB on the patient letter/top tips for using Anima and how best to get blood results etc.

4. Dementia Awareness

• There was a test run (taking about half an hour) for PPG Committee Members on 14 March
• Some concerns had been expressed in correspondence following the test run, including:
  • Focus on the activities of HCA Healthcare at the start of the presentation, rather than Dr Chan’s NHS role.
  • Not enough emphasis on the practical issues – including what can be done to help the situation following diagnosis.
  • Use of medical terms, which need clarification for a lay person.
• Despite the concerns, it was agreed that it would be helpful to proceed with this, although further discussion with Dr Chan and HCA Healthcare was needed to explore what scope there was for amending the presentation to address the concerns raised.
• It was expected that any presentation would be aimed primarily at family members or carers.
• It was noted that Dr Chan had mentioned the support that ADSS (Alzheimers and Dementia Support Services) provides and perhaps they could be approached to assist with adding to the presentation to cover some of the points. See the Alzheimer's and Dementia Support Service website
• LH and HB will follow up with Alice Palmer from HCA Healthcare and Dr Chan, to discuss the way forward.  DL agreed to assist with this if required.

5. Future Meetings of PPG Committee

Although it had been agreed at the last PPG meeting that holding meetings approximately every 2 months would be the usual practice, it was felt that there were sufficient items under discussion to justify holding the next meeting more quickly. It was expected the agenda would include:

• Further review of Anima including:
  • Data from Practice on numbers registered (and breakdown if possible), volume of calls vs online contacts etc
  • Draft letter to be sent with update, further guidance etc
  • Draft notes on how to use / benefits
• Dementia Awareness – update on plans for a presentation that could be made available.
• Plans for Patient Satisfaction Survey (at the last meeting it was suggested that six months after the launch of Anima would be an appropriate time to do this i.e. August / September)

6. Next Meeting

An invitation has been sent out for a meeting on Monday 13 May 2024 at 12:30pm.