Latest PPG Minutes

Present 

St Fillans Medical Centre

• Laura Scarborough (Managing Partner)
• Nikki Hultum (Assistant Manager)
• Maisy (Patient Co-ordination Team)
• Rachel (Patient Co-ordination Team)
• Dr Pravin Gorajala (GP Partner) 

PPG members 

• Mary Ray
• Zoe Richardon
• David Rhodes
• Audrey Toft
• Celia McCartney
• Diane Dawson
• Gillie Buck
• John Topping
• Anita Bridges. 

Apologies  

• Gill Kelly
• Joy Byrom

5pm

Welcome and introductions 

Maisy and Rachel were introduced as new members of the Patient Co-ordination Team. Maisy joins the practice from a retail background and has a particular interest in customer service. Rachel joins from GTD Healthcare within urgent care and is interested in how primary care can work effectively alongside secondary care systems, bringing her previous knowledge and experience into the role.

5.05pm 

Actions from last meeting 

• No further PPG members have been recruited since the last meeting.
• Laura confirmed that she has now acquired the rights to the Google site linked to St Fillans. Consideration was given to adding a QR code for Google Reviews alongside the Friends and Family Test.
• Concerns were raised regarding the difficulty of recruiting younger PPG members when meetings are held at 5pm during the working week, particularly for families with young children. Previous alternative meeting times, Microsoft Teams and other methods of communication have been considered, but these have not resulted in increased engagement from younger patients.
• Flu vaccination invites were also discussed. Some PPG members advised that they had not yet received an invitation despite the practice explaining that invitations were being staggered. Other members had received their invitation, had successfully booked and were pleased with the booking process.

Action

Nikki to check on 16 September 2026 that flu invitations have been sent as planned and, if required, ask the reception team to support contact with patients more widely.

COVID-19 eligibility was discussed. Laura explained that patients eligible previously may remain eligible, but national eligibility criteria can change. The practice does not control these criteria, which are set through wider NHS guidance.

5.09pm 

Changes to triage system: update from last meeting

Laura updated members on the changes made following feedback that patients wanted greater certainty about when their appointment would take place. The revised process has been positively received, with patients generally preferring to know when an appointment will be offered rather than waiting up to seven working days without a specific date.

Some teething issues have been identified around communication of telephone appointment times and the practice is addressing these. PPG members were reminded that telephone appointments are offered within a two-hour window, allowing approximately one hour either side of the stated appointment time. This provides clinicians with flexibility when face-to-face appointments or urgent clinical issues affect the running of the session.

No further concerns or feedback were raised regarding the triage system.

Did Not Attend (DNA) appointments

The practice continues to monitor DNA levels. It was acknowledged that the slide presented contained incorrect information, for which the practice apologised; however, DNA numbers remain broadly at a similar level.

Having one dedicated member of the team monitoring missed appointments appears to be having a positive impact. This allows ongoing conversations with patients and consideration of individual circumstances, while reinforcing the importance of attending or cancelling NHS appointments.

A PPG member asked whether health or personal circumstances are taken into account when reviewing repeated DNAs. Members were reassured that social, safeguarding and vulnerability factors are considered wherever known, including memory difficulties, isolation and other circumstances that may affect a patient’s ability to attend. The purpose of the process is not to penalise vulnerable patients, but to focus attention on repeated missed appointments where there is no identified mitigating reason.

5.25pm  

New website feedback and discussions

The new practice website was discussed at length. PPG members provided a number of helpful observations about the content, navigation and areas that could be improved.

All feedback was recorded separately during the discussion. Nikki and Laura will work through the points raised and discuss these with the website provider where appropriate.

The practice thanked members for the time and effort they had taken to review the website in advance of the meeting and for providing detailed feedback.

Detailed discussions over blood tests and the certainty of blood test being actioned. Discussion over whether the practice has capacity to call each patient to confirm the blood results are ok and received back. Laura advised we do not have clinical capacity but patients are encouraged to check their own NHS App and call the surgery in a few days if they wish to check results have been returned. 

Discussion over the local and social aspects of the website to be clear and more accessible. SRBC website is widely used but not highly effective. Concerns over social prescribing and how to find that information. 

Action

Nikki and Laura to review the website feedback document and work through the points raised with the website provider

6.06pm  

Any Other Business: future topics to be considered

The meeting was running behind schedule. No further business was raised in detail. 

Action

Nikki proposes that for our final PPG meeting of the year PPG members send through any future topics they wish to hear about tor be considered on the next agenda. 

6.10pm

• Meeting adjourned    
• Minutes: Nikki Hultum 
• Approved by: Laura Scarborough