Patient Voice Group

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

Latest Meeting Minutes

Date: Thursday 24 July 2025
Location: Yorb Bridge Surgery

1. Chair: Cath McLennan Minutes Taken by: Angie Davy

2. Phone stats – HM shared a printout of the current phone stats with the group

3. Introduction of members

4. Conflicts of interest: None noted

5. Research Presentation Update (Research Nurses)

Self Help - Research BMG Research Nurses presented to the group on current research studies being undertaken in BMG. The research team in BMG currently consists of our 2 x Research Nurses, 2 x GPs and a Nursing Associate as well as 2 Research Administrators – the team are based at our York Bridge Site but move around the other sites as required for clinics.

Our BMG Research team recently received an award as runners up at the Northwest Primary Care Research Team of the Year and were one of the highest recruiters for the past 10 years across the Northwest Coast to research in this year.

We believe research is a really important aspect of care we provide to our pts. Having our dedicated team means that we have access to lots of studies and we have extensive links to community teams which allow signposting of pts if required. For those pts taking part in any of the studies – their appointments would be with a member of our BMG research team. Involvement in the studies is open to any BMG pt as (applicable to the study) without any “cut-off” limits. All studies are ethically approved.

Across the UK - 1 million people take part in Research studies – being involved in a study can improve the care received by the individual taking part as well as supporting care in future. Without research nothing can change/progress in healthcare and helps to guide NICE guidance. A patient could be invited to take part in a study via various methods. A clinician might mention a particular study at an appointment, we also share information on the practice website Self Help - Research. Some current studies being undertaken by the team at BMG are (more information included in presentation attachment): 

• AFLOAT – pts aged 65 and over with chest infection (uncomplicated) symptoms within the previous 2 weeks – eligible pts would be screened, and pts may receive a text with information about study. The aim is looking at over-prescribing of antibiotics – pts taking part would either receive the antibiotic or a placebo.
• UKEDI – around early detection of pancreatic cancer and links with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic pts. Approximately 1 in 100 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes present with early warning signs of pancreatic cancer. Study involves a blood sample being sent for genetic analysis.
• DEFINE – Support GPs to provide a personalised approach to managing patients with asthma using a FeNO measurement to guide decision making. This can influence the types of inhalers prescribed.
• RCGP Virology Surveillance – run by the University of Oxford and the RCGP Research and Surveillance centre- we participate in the virology swabbing scheme which monitors the spread of respiratory infections within the community and to measure vaccine effectiveness.
• HPOS – identifying pts at risk of developing psoriatic arthritis • NIHR – INDIGO study- identifying and supporting loneliness
• GLAD – better understanding of anxiety and depression

Join Dementia Research – anyone can take part in this study by signing up via this link or there is a paper consent form the team could send out. There was a discussion about the sharing of research study information with wider practice. We already put posts on our social media, practice website and send out texts to identified eligible pts. Often people don’t take a lot of notice of posters displayed on notice boards. Links could be shared electronically but we need to be careful as often people can mistake these as scams. Our GPs and other clinicians try to pass on information about studies to eligible pts at appointments, but appointments are time limited.

Some of the studies – such as the AFLOAT study – hopes to identify some eligible pts from information submitted by pts on their online booking request form. Suggestion of linking with supermarkets etc and running information events/stalls as well as simple cards that clinicians can have on their desks to hand out to pts with the details of the Research Team included. Study results/outcomes are reviewed by a study team rather than by our Research team, but we encourage those results to be at least shared with the patients who have taken part. In terms of the decision on which studies to run – the team receive information daily about national studies and make decisions based on factors such as our practice population – the team will filter through those available and liaise with GP Leads to decide if a particular study is likely to be appropriate for our patients. The group put forward a few suggestions of studies they felt might be of interest to our practice population: • Osteoporosis • Mental Health in young men – Joanne and Paula explained that we have run some similar in the past and struggled to engage candidates – the team try to link with the community voluntary organisations but the trials have to be on the NHS portfolio in order to undertaken as a research project – there will be some universities in the country who will be doing this. Patient who sign-up to a study can withdraw at any point if they change their mind

6. Agree Minutes of the previous meeting & review of actions (not otherwise on agenda)

April PVG minutes agreed Review of Actions from April PVG Meeting:

Action - CM will add some general Healthwatch Information material to our Waiting Room Screens and Social Medical Posts – Action Completed

CM had added Healthwatch information to our screens but has since removed due to the recent news that Healthwatch is being disbanded. SE had also asked for this information to be shared with the PVG.

There was suggestion from the group to show our support by contacting our local MP raising our concerns about the situation with Healthwatch – some members of the PVG may also want to do this as individuals to show their support.

Action – JMc & HM to speak to Patient Advisors about fully explaining/ communicating with pts - Action Completed

Feedback sent prior to meeting from JMc that the Site Support and Urgent Care Support Managers have produced guidance on information sharing for Patient Advisors to be delivered at June Training event.

The communication between Patient Advisors and patients seems to have improved and the team are trying to give out more information to patients to explain the background to situations. CM mentioned the internal positive email which is sent around the practice each week which includes lots of patient comments/feedback. This will be a work in progress with lots ongoing in the background to improve the patient journey.

Action – CM to add demo of where to find the online submission form to TV screens/social media post – Action Completed

CM confirmed this has been done and now on TV screens along with how to submit a prescription request and how to book an appointment via booking link. The “How to Guides” will also be added to social media posts

A patient suggested that these could be added to the “automatic check-in” devices in waiting area informing pts of our new online booking system. We have recently started to use those devices to ask for updated patient information.

Action – CM to invite member of UHMB Patient Experience Team to be invited to future PVG meeting – Action Ongoing

CM has contacted to ty to arrange attendance at either July or October PVG meeting Both CM and CG have tried several times to contact the UHMB Patient Experience Team member but with no success. RT mentioned that she has another contact who may be able to help. One of issues we wanted to raise was around correspondence from hospital automatically being addressed to one GP generically rather than going back to the referring GP. This doesn’t happen in all instances but when it does it can impact on continuity of care. It is likely related to what is held in national databases, but it would be usefully to have a better understanding of why this is the case and if there is anything that can be done about it.

Action – practice to look at training on Power of Attorney for Health & Wellbeing – Action Ongoing

VW and CG will meet to discuss how this can be taken forward. A post was added to our social media which was well received. Understanding that Power of Attorney “kicks in” at point when the patient losses capacity (that can change from hour to hour in some cases) - assessing autonomy is a legal procedure so would be via solicitor. An alert is added to a patient record when these forms are submitted (either on paper or electronically via email to the practice) for staff awareness that Power of Attorney paperwork is in place and for whom. We also have the option to offer “Third Party Access” – forms to be completed by both parties and brought to surgery with ID which consents for practice to discuss case with a family member/friend of advocate with prior consent from patient.

RT mentioned the “Carer Passport” (Carer's Passport - GOV.UK) which can be carried by the carer - It helps to ensure carers are recognized, and can access relevant support services and benefits, both within specific organizations and in the wider community. CM also mentioned the issues with biological mums having access to NHS App for children up to the age of 16 (just for prescriptions rather than medical history) – currently parents don’t have online access for the young person’s notes. Young people from age of 13 can make and attend appointments for themselves.

Action - CM to add reminder about ordering of prescriptions to our Social Media Posts – Action Completed

Update from CM that posts added to our social media regarding ordering of prescriptions in advance of BHs which is done regularly. CM mentioned to the group about the significant number of prescriptions issued by our prescription team on a daily basis (just under 5000) and often adds post related to this on social media. We put reminders out on regular basis about patients taking responsibility and keeping track of their medication supply to be aware when due and not waiting until the last minute to order.

NHS App team are looking at adding a function which will “flag” to patients when their prescriptions are becoming due. The NHS App can also tell you if your prescription has been signed/approved but that doesn’t give information on when those items are ready for collection from Community Pharmacies.

Often prescriptions are not in sync with each other which creates issues for patients – we do have a form which patients can complete to get their items in sync. CM is currently in process of reviewing and simplifying this form.

Repeat dispensing allows clinicians to authorise a certain number of prescriptions for a patient to go to their pharmacy of choice to remove the need to re-order on a regular basis – this can work well until an item needs to be changed.

Some patients may not realise that prescriptions can be ordered up to 10 days before being due – CM confirmed recent post shared on social media about this.

7. Annual Summary of Complaints

Twice a year CG feeds back to the whole practice on complaints and identified themes to be used as learning tools. The revised version of the attached presentation was shared with practice teams at educational event in April 2025.

Compliments – as a practice we share positive comments received from patients as well as from colleagues across the whole practice at the end of every week. Our website and social media pages also continue to be a source of compliments which are also shared with teams. Written Complaints – most complaints received are verbal and wouldn’t get to formal written stage. In terms of themes: - We have received several complaints about our appointment booking/triaging system.

That is often the case when new processes are introduced as there will always be teething problems it takes time for everyone to get used to the change. Noted that whilst we introduced the electronic appointment request system we didn’t remove any of the previous methods of booking (reception or via phone). There are also a number of complaints related to poor communication – sometimes we make the mistake of assuming people understand how our practice processes work. Majority of “clinical” complaints usually relate to patient expectation, clinician communication or perceived attitude. Those related to “practice” relate to processes and protocols.

There are also complaints regarding multiple appointments being cancelled in succession due to clinician sickness etc. As a practice we are trying to look at ways of managing that. Verbal Complaints - continue via website. Our figures appear to show that our numbers of verbal complaints have increased but we have changed our recording systems for verbal complains which might reflect why it looks like we have more

Complaints about MMT (Medicine Management Team) specially related to items being missed off prescriptions continue - some medications have to be processed differently to others with some having to be authorised for reissue by a GP. Verbal complaints related to some teams appear to have dropped but we now have direct contact telephone lines for queries to specific teams allowing issues to be addressed more directly which seems to have improved things. There are less complaints related to Patient Advisors which is probably because we have removed the decisionmaking process from that team in terms of ability to have an appointment.

Recording Systems for Complaints – following our 2023 CQC inspection we changed our recording systems for verbal complaints which the inspectors seemed to be happy with at their following visit. Each complaint is recorded separately so if one patient submitted several complaints they would count separately. Patterns of repeated complaints from the same patient would be identified by CG.

Significant Event Analysis (SEA) - These may be undertaken following complex or significant complaints. Everyone involved in the incident will be involved with a discussion with identified learning outcomes being shared practice wide. Our practice wide sharing of events and learning outcomes was previously raised by CQC and we have worked hard on improving our processes.

We share learning outcomes with clinicians and discuss in small team meetings as well as large practice wide meetings held twice yearly where we spend the whole afternoon sharing learning/SEAs – outcomes from SEAs are fed back to the patient who made the initial complaint and patients are often quite happy with that outcome. We are required to report some serious incidents to the CQC following a strict guidance criterion – over the last 12 months we have reported 3 or 4 incidents to CQC.

Noted that over half of our complaints have come from patients over the age of 56 (the age ranges are set by NHSE). This may be because older patients will remember GP practices how they were 50/60 years ago with a “family doctor” which may have an impact on expectation/complaints. Social Media - we tend to get more positive than negative comments on social media and we find other patients responding to comments supporting the practice. Noted the website comments are included in the reported figures but not those we receive on social media.

We used to get comments directly added to the NHS Website (around 50 a year) which were often anonymised often making it difficult for us to investigate. Since the introduction of social media that has changed and now often only 2 or 3 per year on NHS Website which tend to be more positive. We also have “Friends and Family” feedback comments received via text following appointments - patterns from those are interesting and have resulted in at least 2 instant changes being made. Challenges – ability to complain has become easier with various methods available and patient expectation continues to rise beyond the reach of Primary Care.

Changes – CG mentioned that we have just recruited a dedicated PA support to the Patient Engagement Team who will be working with CG and CM and will be taking over the admin of the PVG. Goals – we will continue to embed the “learning culture” practice wide. We will attempt to identify trends to capture patient “grumbles” before things get the complaint stage as well as looking at additional ways to engage with our patients and the community, using new SEA process to promote an improved learning culture.

8. “Meet the Patient Voice Group”

open meeting – move forward to October agenda

9. Update on Continuity of Care/Appointments for Chronic Conditions

move forward to October agenda

10. The cost of hunger and hardship – Foodbank stock levels

Request for ideas from our PVG as to what we could do to support - move forward to October agenda

11. AOB

• New GPs – HF mentioned that we have 2 new GPs starting with the practice in September 2025
• Stanley’s 250 miles cycle – RT mentioned a recent charity fundraiser event arranged by Stanley’s raise money to support young people to do a triathlon later in the year.
• Thought on PVG Group Photo for our “who’s who” campaign on Facebook - move forward to October agenda
• GP National Survey Results - move forward to October agenda

12. Date of next meeting

Thursday 16th October –scheduled to be via Teams due to winter months/darker nights but general feedback from patients as to how much better the face-to-face meetings are. Survey to be sent out with the minutes for patients to vote as to whether next meeting should be on Teams or face to face (venue also to be voted on)

Thursday 15th January 26 – Teams

Rules of the meeting/purpose of the Chair

• Read agenda and papers in advance of the meeting and arrive prepared.
• All questions to be through the chair and only one person to speak at a time.
• Stick to the items on the agenda
• Respect the role of the Chair and allow the Chair to undertake the role to the fullest extent.
• For all decisions Chair to invite everyone present to give opinion without interruptions.
• Vote on all decisions and those members not present must inform the Chair of their voting decisions in advance of the meeting.
• Declare conflicts of interests