Patient Participation Group

Would you like to become a member of the Patient Participation Group (PPG)?

The PPG are an important line of communication between the surgery and the patients.

The PPG are active in the surgery garden, hold coffee mornings for McMillan Cancer and other charities in the year. They also volunteer to help when needed with Flu/Covid Clinics.

If you would be interested in becoming a member please email:- f.patientgroup@nhs.net

PPG Terms of Reference - July 2024

PPG Terms of Reference - July 2024 (PDF, 184KB)

PPG Terms of Reference Appendix 1 - July 2024 (DOCX, 20KB)

Meeting Minutes

Minutes 8-7-2024 (DOCX, 15KB)

AGM Patient Participation Group (PPG) 15th October 2024

AGM October 15/10/24

Fern News October 2024

AGM (Annual General Meeting)

The Chair welcomed attendees to the second AGM of the Patient Participation Group (PPG). The meeting was held at Fusion in Spinks Lane in the Wellness Room and started at 4pm.Also present was John Wood (vice chair)

Chairs Report

The minutes of last year are available on the PPG section of the practice website. (www.fernhousesurgery.co.uk)

While we were unable last year to find a volunteer to support the PPG functions of communication and membership - later in the agenda we will be proposing a second vice chair role that will cover much of this area.

With enhanced member numbers - following a text message prior to the summer meeting we have sought a venue that offers space, disabled access, and convenient parking. I am grateful to Fusion Leisure Centre for their offer of the wellbeing room tonight.

Another first this evening is a talk given by Dr Mayet representing both Fern House and the Maldon and Witham Primary Care Network. I hope that this can continue to be a feature of AGMs.

Primary Care has been undergoing many changes to the way services are provided in a time when the NHS sector has rarely been out of the news. New roles and changing methods are often challenging for patients and staff. Explaining the changes and listening to the lived experiences of those who use the services is a feature of PPG meetings.

For the last few years, we have started a garden project based in the Fern garden and in September we held our third MacMillan cake sale rising £235 for the Cancer charity.

The successful garden Project has been running for a few years now but could do with more volunteers. They meet every Tuesday between 10am and 12 noon. Please contact either the surgery or Marian Redding if you would like more information.

We intend to continue providing an opportunity for members to meet the practice team and where possible to link with other patient representative groups in Mid-Essex.

Also, present representing Fern House Surrey team were Dr Mayet and Nicole Kaye who represented Sarah George (Practice Manager).

Everyone from staff to patients has been affected by changes to the Primary Care Network (PCN) and Dr Mayet will discuss this further later.

Election of Additional Vice Chair

The next item on the agenda was the proposal and acceptance of Susan Ager as an addition vice chair to the PPG. Members were informed that a full vote was not required as the constitution of this Voluntary Group is evolving. From 2025 please inform the Chair before the July meeting if you have an interest in taking on further responsibilities. Additional support would be welcomed. Contact on this email f.patientgroup@nhs.net

Questions & Practice Report

The report and news from the PCN were given by Dr. Mayet. He reported that it had been a very difficult year across all areas with overwhelmed hospitals leading to challenging conditions in Primary Care. Dr Mayet answered questions and responded to issues. Dr. David Sanwu has joined the practice as a GP registrar and is now seeing patients. Fern House surgery car park is only for the use of staff and blue badge holders.Patient feedback via the PPG is helping to focus attention on areas of the practice that need attention. One of these being the on-line booking system using Patches.

· There are currently several emergency appointments made available via Patchs each day.

· This can be accessed by clicking ‘Contact us online’ then selecting ‘Contact my GP practice’.

· There are only a certain number of appointments released daily, but admin request can be submitted throughout the day via this portal.

Fern House is currently working on new ways to digitise processes with appointments and within the surgery to limit phone call waiting time and queues within the surgery. There may be some changes over the next coming months which will be reported at the next PPG.

GP Survey 2024

Dr Mayet reported that the patient feedback survey results were much improved. Further information will be provided via the practice website.

A member of the PPG commented that the telephone system was much improved and that the call back system worked perfectly. Praise was also given to the reception team.

The surgery will be expanding the availability of blood tests in house and have employed a phlebotomist.

Dr. Mayet reminded the attendees that appointments to see a Physiotherapist were available by self-referral. There are also Social Prescribers available. their role is to link patients to services that help them to overcome loneliness and social isolation and to improve their physical health. The practice also has a mental health nurse who can see patients face to face at the surgery.

Regarding the PCN, Fern House have linked with the following surgeries: Collingwood Road, Witham Health Centre, Blackwater, Longfield Medical Centre (Maldon) and Tollesbury Surgeries. This gives better access to funding services across the PCN.

Medication reviews are undertaken by telephone call from a pharmacist. There was a reminder that local pharmacies (through pharmacy first) can prescribe and deal with certain medical conditions.

A member of the group commented that the website was hard to use for those with neurodiversity. Dr Mayet agreed communication needs to be improved.

Dr Mayet reported that Diabetes was increasing in the population and discussed the different medical approaches.

Covid and Flu injections were underway and would finish at the end of November.

Regarding the PCN, Fern House is the first to get patient reppresentatives onto the PCN Board and interviews would be taking place in November.

It was also discussed how many more hospital appointments now come through by text.

Proposed Dates of Next Meeting. We are aiming to vary the day of the week, avoid school holidays and take account of the attendance on dark, winter evenings. We want to provide an opportunity for those at work to attend. This is subject to the availability of the staff team to attend.

Monday 27th January 2025

Tuesday 8th April 2025

Monday 7th July 2025

Tuesday 7th October 2025 (AGM)

Fern News July 2024

A large number of new members were welcomed to the third PPG meeting of the year. The practice manager and chair answered a range of queries which are outlined below.

As many of those attending had not been to other meetings, this newsletter will include information on the current primary care structure- the Primary Care Network - and on health and wellbeing opportunities locally.

In advance of the AGM in October the PPG terms of reference and code of conduct will also be added to the website.

The Maldon and Witham Primary Care Network is one of many NHS organisations formed of several GP practices each with a combined total of around 60,000 patients. This enables additional staff to be employed within the PCN, often working across more than one practice. A new role example would be that of the social prescribers. They offer alternatives to strictly medical prescriptions, and patients may find themselves attempting walking cricket or attending weight loss sessions, doing some gentle gardening or receiving support for dementia in the talking sport sessions at Witham Leisure Centre. Much more fun than many other treatments!

The increased interest in the PPG was very much appreciated. PPG members can choose to read the newsletters online and comment via the email if they wish to raise issues.

f.patientgroup@nhs.net

Making the chair aware of problems helps to collate and raise them.

A few may increase their contribution by support for projects such as the garden group or the MacMillan cake sale. With more help more projects can be supported. We hope to add at least one more role to that of Chair and Vice Chair and will confirm these at the AGM.

A number of communication queries were raised. The change in systems to use the NHS App along with more text messages and phone calls are now a regular part of the contact with health practitioners.

A system called Patches now works within the App to offer responses to questions raised. The settings of your App should allow notifications. A number of suggestions made will be taken up by the Chair and Vice chair at the PCN communication group.

It was suggested that use of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the website would help patients and save on time contacting the surgery by phone. Several patients present wished to record their thanks to the Fern practice.

Practice/PCN news

The practice is due to become a training practice which is great news as a qualified doctor will be with us for two years whilst being mentored in the role of GP.

In addition a GPA - general practice assistant, a new PCN role will improve the smooth running of clinics by administrative and basic clinical duties to reduce the workload for doctors and allow them to focus on the patient.

Paper forms for blood tests are due to be replaced by electronic forms sent directly to the centre you choose via Swiftqueue. The surgery should inform patients once the system is working well.

Extended access appointments were recommended to those working during daytime surgery hours.

If you miss a telephone appointment the call will be repeated after 10 minutes.

Virtual appointments are not yet available but some members would be happy to try this.

Members were informed about the system used when patients fail to attend an appointment. A chatbot system is not yet a possibility!

With the increase of membership we can look to extend our voluntary activities and will seek further officer roles as this occurs. If you are interested please contact the chair. We can confirm these at the AGM in October.

Fern news April/May 2024

This newsletter is produced following the April meeting of the PPG (Patient Participation Group)

The question of appointments has been raised on a number of fronts so the chair asked the practice team to provide some data after the meeting. The team provided an example of a four week period this year between 8th April and 5th May.

Of 6,751 appointments offered 257 people did not attend.

Face to face appointments accounted for the majority at 4,676. Most non attendance happened here at 215.

Telephone appointments remain popular with 1,951 with 37 non attendees. There are a few instances where an outcome is unknown thus accounting for the minor difference in numbers.

Getting an appointment with a doctor, nurse or other health professional is either by using the NHS App or by contacting the surgery. We would recommend that you at least take a look at the NHS App to assess if you were able to use it.

The question of surgery and hospital appointments continues to be the focus of public concern. This is even though at practice level many more appointments are available with a range of health professionals and now number more than prior to Covid.

Pharmacy First

This is a new NHS scheme which enables pharmacists to diagnose and treat 7 conditions. If you think that you have one of the following you can go online or into a pharmacy: impetigo, shingles, infected insect bite, sinusitis, sore throat, urinary tract infection. Otitis media (ear infection) can only be diagnosed face to face. Consulting a pharmacist within this scheme allows Primary care staff to see people with conditions other than these and improve access for those in greater need. So far Fern have referred 90 patients to this new scheme.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/pharmacy-first

Membership of the PPG

The recent text message sent to patients elicited over 90 responses. Several of you have been in touch and expressed an interest in the work we do in the Patient Participation Group. We are delighted that the promised attendance for July is now 25 which exceeds previous expectations.

The Chair had advised those who wish to know more about the PPG meanwhile to look up previous newsletters on the Fern website by searching Patient Participation Group.

Primary Care Networks

The Chair and Vice Chair are now part of a working group looking at how the PCN (Primary Care Network Maldon and Witham which includes Tollesbury) can better communicate with staff and patients. Members of the PPG with media experience might be asked to contribute to this work as it develops.

For those of you who have not heard of PCNs they are now the organisational units of the primary care in the NHS. Try the link to learn more. Typically a PCN now is a group of practices with around 60,000 patients between them.

NHS England » Primary care networks

Spring Covid vaccination has begun - make sure you respond when you receive a text appointment.

If you wish to hand in to reception a medical sample please ensure it has been as a result of a member of clinical staff request. Random samples cannot be accepted. You do not need to join the queue at reception/ just hand in the sample to the basket at the right of the counter.

Blood test forms will in future be electronic and will be already on the system for the staff to access. Fasting is only necessary if specifically instructed.A number of blood tests occur between 7am to 8am targeting those who need to attend before work.

The next PPG meeting will be on July 8th. Space is a concern so please let Fern know via the fpatient@ nhsnet email.

Fern PPG newsletter

January 2024

The PPG met on January 8th and considered opportunities for help with healthy lifestyles. We focussed on the excellent services offered at the Witham leisure centre. These include a Community garden, the Active Health Club, the Sporting Memories Social Club, the Active Rewards Exercise Referral scheme and Sport for Confidence. The key word for all these activities is FUN! If you can’t get out try the exercise at home programme - ABLE like MABEL- ask Carol our Social Prescriber for the information pack.

Further details below.

The practice team reported that there was still an issue with people not attending a booked appointment. It is understood that there are many reasons why this might occur but in some cases this happens more than once during the year. If it happens to you please let the reception team know. These occasions unfortunately add up and are calculated as clinical hours lost per month. This can be over 30 hours! For clinical staff and those who haven’t managed to get an appointment this is frustrating. So remember to CANCEL!

Members asked about Health checks which are available to any patient over ? 40. This is a great opportunity to take a look at your lifestyle and improve your lifetime health chances.

We were asked how to find the PPG newsletter in the website.

Just put ‘Patient participation group’ in the search and the newsletters come up.

Cake and plant sales

The garden group are looking into adding plant sales to the current cake sale and raising money for charity. Keep a lookout when the weather improves (!).

Neighbourhood teams

Although we have the advantage of sharing clinical staff across the four practices in our primary care network we are soon to benefit from the work of neighbourhood teams. There will be greater access to a broader range of expertise, support and wider networks of support services bringing together health, social care and voluntary organisations. Watch this space for updates as this develops.

June 2023

Patient Participation Group Newsletter Summer 2023

The Patient Participation Group (PPG) met at Fern House on 12th June. As always members of the Fern team were present to answer queries and give information. We were pleased to hear a presentation from Dr Mayet on the progress with identifying and treating Diabetes.

Key issues included:

Ongoing discussion on the ability of the NHS/ practice to provide phlebotomist services. This is funded centrally which is why most tests are done on hospital sites. Where patients are vulnerable, or it is clinically appropriate some blood tests are done at Fern House. Very early tests are offered to help those who have work related difficulties attending during the day.
An explanation of how population health issues such as diabetes are now tackled - see below.
Preparation for the first AGM of our PPG in the autumn
Volunteering for projects such as the community garden which is a social prescribing project run by members of the PPG. If you wish to learn more come and chat (in the garden) on Tuesday mornings from 10am. Another voluntary activity is the MacMillan cake sale due on Friday 29th September. Please come along and support us.
Concerns were expressed regarding the use of the disabled parking by those without blue badges / abuse of the car parking spaces and / dangerous manoeuvres causing damage to property. Please think about how disabled people are affected if all the spaces are taken. Patients in general, parking on the double yellow lines outside the dispensary window. This is dangerous and not acceptable.
Development of the overarching Primary Care Network (PCN) to which Fern House belongs.
Can the PCN website be improved? Inform the practice staff.
Integrated Neighbourhood Teams are developing services across health and social care - we will bring more news about this in future newsletters.
Invitations for booster Covid injections are a little confusing but generally better to receive many than none.

Population Health and Diabetes

One of the major challenges we face is type 2 diabetes. This is not just about individual cases but the presence of diabetes in increasing numbers in the whole population.

Primary Care networks such as the Witham and Maldon PCN (https://www.withamandmaldonpcn.nhs.uk/)

serving three of the practices in Witham are tasked with looking at health in the wider group of patients registered.

In terms of diabetes there has been a great deal of activity. In the Fern House practice, registered patients (16000+), 6.2% are diabetic and 7.5% are pre diabetic. The NHS spends around 10% of its budget on patients with Diabetes - mostly when such patients develop serious illnesses. Covid was particularly dangerous for Diabetic patients.

The good news is that we can each get more control over Diabetes as lifestyle changes and the quality improvement programmes Fern House offers can make big differences. Examples include:

Improved systems of doing checks, using text messages to inform and involve patients.
Offering diet programmes which can reverse the disease process including our low carb programme. A pilot has drastically improved the lives of several patients. The NHS low calorie programme helps target those most in need and medical staff also find that social prescribing supports many who struggle with other conditions linked to poor health. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk

This effort has shown that diabetes care results by the Fern House team has improved hugely, and the PPG was delighted to learn this and congratulated the team.

The advantages of being part of a larger group of practices is that additional staff posts can be supported across all practices. In this way new services not affordable within one practice can be developed. Examples include the social prescribers, care coordinators, community mental health nurse, physiotherapist, and pharmacists.

Demand and appointments

Additional appointments with a wide team of doctors and other clinical staff total 600 hours.

In June 23 Fern House receptionists answered 14,665 calls. 5 receptionists answer calls daily. 245 patients did not attend their appointments at a cost of 41 hours of clinical time. This is a return to pre Covid levels of nonattendance.

Please remember to notify staff if you cannot attend and others can then access that time.

Next meeting 02/10/23 at 4pm will be the first AGM where we hope to find a couple of volunteers to take on roles to assist the chair. If you would like to discuss, please contact the PPG email and the chair will arrange a chat during August or September.

Contact the email f.patientgroup@nhs.net to receive an invitation to the next meeting.

PPG Newsletter – March 2023

We had a good attendance at the recent meeting of the PPG on 6th March and the issues discussed are summarised below. The next meeting and newsletter will be in June.

Invitations will be sent before the meeting. Send an email with questions, thoughts etc.

Improving Health

Did you know: there are several enjoyable ways to improve your health and they are all provided in Witham? Keeping fit and healthy is made easier by sessions run from the Witham Leisure Centre. Sessions include:

‘Finding Your Feet’ walks and the ‘Wellness Cafe’

Walking Cricket starts on Friday 21st April 2.00 - 3.00pm, running for 10 weeks at Witham Sports Ground. Contact Patrick Ward on 07787294980 or email Patrick.ward@Essexcricket.org. The cricket sessions follow Walking Football sessions held every Friday between 1.00 and 2.00pm.

There are also a wide range of other activities available at the Leisure Centre.

‘Warm Wednesdays’ at Witham Leisure Centre will continue until 5th April but from April 14th will be called Social Spaces and will be on Fridays. Open 8.45am to 3.45pm. Free Wi-Fi/ refreshments / showers. 50p swim/gym.

Primary Care

Did you know: about the extra staff recruited to expand health services locally and the additional appointments within our Witham and Maldon Primary Care Network https://www.withamandmaldonpcn.nhs.uk/

The Patient Participation Group

Did you know about: The Fern House Garden project – run by the Patient Group. Come and see us at work on Tuesday mornings (weather permitting). The daffodils in the rear garden adjacent to the car park have been much appreciated and are the work of this group. We have recently planted a new rose garden visible from the car park. All the rose plants were donated by a patient. We have also received gifts of equipment and a cash grant from local organisations. Please join us, gardening skills welcome but not required. If you have health or anxiety problems or lonely you might find this a source of help. Talk to your physician or Carol the Social Prescriber.

Thanks to the Fern House team for responding to our request for new chairs suitable for patients with mobility issues. We also asked for clarification on access to appointments so please see below.

Getting Appointments at Fern House Surgery

Like all NHS services there is a huge demand for GP appointments. Although appointments have increased so has demand. This is common throughout Essex and the country. The Fern House team reports that missed appointments are still occurring so please cancel if you cannot attend and let someone else have the slot. These are the times to access:

emergency on the day – call at 8am. The new telephone system now enables a call back facility at peak times. For afternoon emergency surgery appointments, call at 11.30am.
for appointments in 48 hours (2 days later) or routine appointments, call after 10am.
extended access appointments are released two weeks ahead and clinics are provided from 6.30pm to 8pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with a GP.
on Saturdays a clinic is provided at one of the four practices in our primary care network - these can be booked two weeks in advance.

If you are diabetic or have another chronic condition, early morning blood tests are provided so that commuters can get to work afterwards. These are on Tuesday and Thursdays 7am to 8am only and must be pre-booked.

Dispensary - patients are advised that requests for repeat prescriptions must allow 4 working days. Dispensers deal with an average of 500 prescriptions a day and many face to face and email enquiries. On Mondays this can double, so spare a thought for the dispensary team.

Hospital News

The proposed new Community Diagnostic Centre is to be created at Braintree Community Hospital and will be up and running in 2024. It will provide CT scanner, ultrasound MRI scans and more. It will give access to these tests closer to home. This is a big plus for those of us living in Mid Essex.

If you want to go along to the public meeting about this it will be held on Wednesday 10th May at the George Yard Shopping Centre from 10am to 12pm.

Discharge is to be made quicker in MSE (Mid and South Essex) using a new pharmacy on wheels service. This will aim to ensure that take home medications are supplied before 3pm. Many of you will have experienced the delays to getting back home whilst waiting for take home medicines. Let the patient group know if you have any updates to share on this.

A new project that works

If you go to Broomfield you might notice QR codes near to products such as soap. If the product has run out you can use your phone to inform staff and it will be renewed. This is the tip of the iceberg of a new App that hospitals can use to speed up responses and save time so that services can be more efficient and benefit patients.

Fern House staff noted the popularity of extended appointments and the limitations of such services as blood testing. This is mostly contracted to hospital departments. A new bus service is likely to provide vital assistance in travelling to Broomfield or Braintree hospitals. The Digigo service is due to be extended to the Witham area. This is in addition to Braintree Community Transport

Mid Essex News

Your representatives can now directly speak to the ‘Alliance Director’ and key members of the team. Chairs of patient groups are automatically invited and can raise issues on behalf of their groups. The first meeting included an update on virtual wards - we have discussed this before. More than 200 virtual beds are now in the scheme. If you or a relative have seen this in action please update us so your feedback can go to MACE. Mid Essex is part of the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System.

We note the retirement of Dr Hopcroft and wish her well. A new full-time doctor, Dr T. Ahillan will join the Practice Monday 3rd April.

PPG Autumn/Winter Newsletter 2022

So much has changed in the NHS and there is a lot that concerns us all. We believe in supporting our NHS and all those who work within it who strive so hard to get things right for us when we need them. If you want to learn about the changes here are two links to help you find out nationally and in Mid and South Essex:

Link one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blapgFKXv0I

Link two

https://www.midandsouthessex.ics.nhs.uk/your-area/

Welcome to the website of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust | Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

The Fern Patient participation group formed several years ago but was forced to pause during the pandemic. Now we are reassessing what we might attempt to do by establishing new terms of reference and considering a change so that the when the group meets it becomes aa managing committee and all patients can join in by reading the newsletters and sending in comments for discussion. Please note that we cannot deal with personal complaints.

We are currently reflecting on the volunteer roles some of us undertook in the last year or two and the projects we might do to improve lives.

Dear to our hearts is the garden project designed to enable people to be referred to join a gardening group at Fern House, and address their health, wellbeing, and social issues in a different way. You can be referred to this group by any doctor, nurse, or social prescriber. If you can offer advice or participate in the garden project, please use the patient group email below.

f.patientgroup@nhs.net

In the past we have raised money for charities by coffee mornings. We recently organised a MacMillan cake sale to raise funds. Over £200 was donated to MacMillan. Thanks to those who contributed.

Difficult times lie ahead which have been well documented in the news.

These, together with staff shortages and heavy pent-up demand for hospital and local services - many provided by GP teams including nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and many more - will put additional pressure on all health services. Extra appointments are coming along, and you may be offered either face to face or telephone consultations at new times to try to bridge the gap between what we would like to happen and what the reality can often be.

At our recent meeting with Fern senior staff, we raised the issues of inadequate seating for patients with mobility problems, medication review calls made outside the times arranged and misuse of disabled car parking spaces.

Positive reactions were noted to the increased appointments on Saturdays and evenings within the PCN

The primary care network (PCN) has recruited new staff for the benefit of Fern House and the three other practices, Witham Health Centre, Blackwater Surgery (Maldon), and Collingwood Road. These include pharmacists, a social prescriber, a mental health nurse, physiotherapist, and health & wellbeing coaches.

Since 1st October 2022 the PCN have started an Enhanced Access service, providing 36.75 hours of Nurse and GP appointments every week. Two mornings a week between 7am and 8am and two evenings a week between 6.30pm and 8.00pm. Along with every Saturday at one of the four surgeries between 9am-5pm. This is to benefit patients outside of the core hours of the practices. These appointments can benefit working patients to attend, early morning, evenings, or weekends. All these appointments are available to pre book two weeks in advance, allowing you to plan your visits ahead.

If we can generate sufficient interest for the next PPG meeting, we could in the spring, hold a health awareness session and invite new staff to speak to us.

We discussed the NHS App and its many uses. If you do not yet have this on your phone, please consider getting it. You can check blood test results, order medication, and book some appointments

You can now access your health record through the App.

Patients raised the well-known issue of obtaining blood tests at a local site. Currently the only options are hospitals in Chelmsford, Maldon and Braintree. This is fine if patients have transport but very expensive if taxi fares are necessary. The practice manager took note of this but unfortunately, we cannot currently offer this facility.

Don’t forget, if you are eligible, to get that flu/ covid booster jab this winter.

We extend our best wishes to Dr Hopcroft who retires in March

If you would like to receive the newsletter and send in your comments, please use this email address and the chair of the PPG will contact you as soon as possible.

f.patientgroup@nhs.net

Your area - Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System