Patient Participation Group

Attendees: Mike Bernard (MB) (Chair), Mike Holbrooke (MH) (Vice Chair), Jane Coates (JC), Michele More (MM), Anna Soroko (AS), Claire Woodbridge (CW), Sue Hayes (SH), Sally Gardiner (SG), Debbie Lambe (DL) (Practice Manager). (minutes). Jan Parry (JPa) had requested attendance via MS-Teams but this was unfortunately unavailable. JPa had also provided written comments for the meetin

Apologies : Dr Jonathan Knight (JK), Jenny Pickering (JP), Anni Meehan (AM).

Meeting started with a presentation from Helen Fairweather from Headway – slides have been emailed out

Minutes Of Last Meeting

Noted that it was also advised that Donna Holmes was no longer able to attend meetings after normal working hours and would therefore be unable to record minutes. However, she would be able to provide secretarial support to the PPG during the working day.

Matters Arising, Not Covered By The Agenda

• Demographics List:
  • Age group 0-4 - Male: 705 Female: 669
  • Age group 5-14 - Male: 5764 Female: 5721
  • Age group 45-64 - Male: 4076 Female: 3712
  • Age group 65-74 - Male: 1283 Female: 1491
  • Age group 75-84 - Male: 980 Female: 1206
  • Age group 85 & over - Male: 324 Female: 534
• MB has contacted the two patients who expressed an interest in joining the PPG. Further discussions will take place to agree how the group dynamics will move forward. One had raised the matter of long queues at reception in the early morning and seats for patients unable to stand in the queue. DL advised that these matters will be investigated.
• Explore how to engage the ‘next tier’ of patients, e.g. invite them to complete questionnaires. CW asked if the practice could provide the PPG with the patient catchment area of the practice. DL to investigate and revert.
• Action – DL to contact other practice PPGs with similar patient list size to Two Rivers Medical Centre
• Emma AI Receptionist –DL advised that feedback from the reception team has been positive overall, with staff feeling less overwhelmed by telephone calls. Patient feedback to date has also been generally positive. SH reported that Emma had failed to understand her request. DL advised that it was recognized that there may be some teething issues, and the practice is actively collating feedback to identify areas for improvement. The practice has observed fewer frustrated patients, as calls are not being held in long queues and appointments are being filled appropriately. A small number of patients have expressed frustration with Emma; however, it is still early days to draw firm conclusions. The practice remains committed to addressing these initial challenges to provide a more accessible and efficient service for patients.
• Cancer Care Reviews - A care coordinator will provide the PPG with further information.
• DL advised that flu vaccines were still being provided.
• Following consideration, the practice partners have agreed that staff photographs will not be displayed on the practice website. SG also asked whether photographs could be displayed in the waiting area.

Review Terms Of Reference

Members were asked to read through the Terms of Reference, make any comments or notes and send them to MB. Further meeting to be arranged to go over these with DL.

Newsletter

DL informed the group that the newsletter has been well received and feels this is a very positive development that supports the PPG with future editions. MH asked the group for ideas for the next newsletter, noting that he wants to make the most of this opportunity and feels he is running out of ideas. The group were encouraged to give this some thought. Copies of the newsletter have been made available at reception and further information about the PPG can also be found on the practice website.

PPG Projects

• Action - DL requested PPG members to help promote Emma

Feedback From Other Meetings

The group agreed that minutes of the PPG Network Meeting and the PPG Collaborative would be circulated to members. Matters arising related to Two Rivers Medical Centre can be discussed in the following PPG meeting.

Any Other Business

MB suggested that meeting be normally arranged for 5:30 on the 2 nd Tuesday of every third month. The use of a later meeting time when guests were invited was discussed as some members had been unable to attend the Headway presentation at 5pm. DL advised that this would be acceptable to Practice staff

Date Of Next Meeting

Tuesday 14 th April 2026 at 17:30