Latest Meeting Minutes

• Date: 28th August 2024
• Present: Diane Hearne, Denise Cakebread, Mary Cady, Jenny Bowey, Bill Kilvington, Chris Wheeler and Rizwana Baig and Linda Lillis from the Practice
• Apologies: Sarah Campbell

Matters arising from the previous Minutes

Linda is still looking into the possibility of offering HPV vaccination to young males that have missed the school vaccination programme.

Cuppa and a chat

15 people attended the August get together – Sarah very kindly helped with more chairs and milk. It was felt that this was probably the maximum we could accommodate. We will see how many people turn up next time in case we need to think about the need to control numbers. It is lovely that it is so successful and thanks to Denise, Jenny and Mary for all their hard work. We have enough funds to cover our expenses and will think about doing something at our Christmas drop in.

The next session is on the 4 September and Sarah would circulate the date to patients. It was also agreed that the PPG members should have name badges – Diane to pass the names to Riz.

Friends and family feedback

Riz circulated the most recent feedback reports, which were, as usual, overwhelmingly positive. There was a negative comment about a member of staff together with an anecdotal one. Although recognised that these are isolated incidents, it was agreed that a general discussion with staff about communication with patients and the importance of a sympathetic ear, would be helpful.

A suggestion was made that there could be an additional column explaining how the issue was resolved. We appreciate the column would be used rarely, as the majority of comments are positive, however, this would be helpful to the members of the PPG and, more importantly, to the CQC.

The PPG was assured that the practice took all comments seriously and investigated each negative comment proactively.
No formal complaints have been received and members of the PPG asked the practice to check that the NHS complaints procedure was visible to patients in the waiting room.

Recruitment

The practice was still trying to recruit a permanent Practice Nurse, although the current locums are well regarded by patients.

A new receptionist, Charlotte, has been recruited to free up Sarah for more administration work.

Performance metrics

At the last meeting, it was noted that we haven’t been receiving the performance metrics for the Practice. Linda asked the Doctor about them and he explained that due to the lack of pharmacists, the data is not available. This information is very important, not only to local Practices but also to the CQC. It was suggested that the Practice ask the Health Authority what information they are collecting on Practices.

Newsletter

It has been quiet over the summer so the Practice feel it is best to leave the newsletter to the Autumn when they can include up-to-date information about flu and Covid vaccinations. An update about the shingles and RSV vaccinations will also be included.

Safeguarding

All staff are up to date with their safeguarding course. Childline posters could be put up in the surgery and also something to help people who are being coerced. Bill to send Riz some suggestions.

Diabetes

Across Croydon 67% of registered patients with diabetes received all eight care processes and 29% met all three treatment targets.

This is a great achievement – once again Croydon ranked 5th in Eclipse for care process completion, 7% higher than last year and 16% above the national average. Bramley Avenue Surgery significantly increased completion of all 8 care processes in 2023 to 24 - up from 63% to 80% - a fantastic achievement!

There is scope to increase even further with 13% of patients receiving 7 of 8 care processes. The % of our patients meeting all 3 treatment targets decreased to 46% (from 51% last year) but we are still 2nd highest in Croydon, which is very impressive. To further boost this percentage, Nurses are being encouraged to refer Type 2 patients who would benefit from healthy lifestyle support and advice. 

Margaret recently joined that Practice staff at a social event. She is continuing with her treatment and is looking very well.

Future dates

PPG Cuppa and a chat 2024: 

• 6 November
• 4 December

Date of Next Meeting

• 27 November