Jan. 20, 2026
Agenda
AGENDA
1) Apologies for absence.
2) Minutes of the meeting held on 22nd October 2025.
3) Matters arising not covered by a specific agenda item.
4) Health Centre Update...
a) Details of any operational or procedural changes
b) Information regarding any staff changes/ vacancies.
5) New Member.
6) Review of the aims and objectives of the Group.
7) Date and time of next meeting....April 2026.
Graham Cundy (chair).
Minutes
FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY PRACTICE
Minutes of meeting on 20 January 2026
Present: Graham Cundy (Chair), Tom Allan, Hilary Gower, Malcolm Jefferies, Lynn McGrady (Sec), Nicky Yates, Jill Keen (Practice Manager), Jilly Duan
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Dr Sekhon.
Jilly-Jing Duan attended today’s meeting as a potential new member following Sandra Shaw’s recent resignation. Graham and the other members wish to put on record their thanks for the significant contribution Sandra has made to the Friends group over very many years and wish her well for the future.
2. Minutes of the last meeting held on 22 October 2025
The minutes were agreed.
3. Matters arising
All matters arising are covered elsewhere on this agenda.
4. Health Centre Update
a) Operational or Procedural Changes
· In response to a query it was confirmed that the Practice GPs are aware of Jess’s Rule to be rolled out next week. (This new rule follows the experiences of a young lady who contacted her surgery 20 times before dying of cancer in 2020. It urges family doctors to consider a second opinion, a face-to-face physical examination or order more tests if a patient has had three appointments for their symptoms but no diagnosis.)
· Vaccinations:
The Practice has now undertaken flu inoculations for all eligible patients requesting vaccinations who are housebound or in care homes. Care homes for which GP services are routinely provided by this Practice are Jackman’s Lodge, Kingsbury Court and Coxhill Manor.
Previous arrangements whereby pharmacies received vaccinations ahead of local GP surgeries has now ceased. This had led to difficulties for GP surgeries in estimating likely take-up by their patients and potentially wasting vaccines, at considerable cost. All vaccines are now distributed to all providers on one specific date.
Covid vaccinations have ceased until the spring when new arrangements will enable each GP Practice to determine its own procedures, with the requirement to work within NHS partnerships now removed. Eligibility criteria for Covid vaccinations is determined by the Department of Health and can vary between years.
· The period between January and March is very busy as staff in the Practice are committed to ensuring Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF) targets are met and patients requiring regular monitoring have been called in for reviews.
· Two members of the group had been made aware of Practice phone lines cutting off after a period of waiting. This could particularly impact on elderly patients who do not use computerised methods of communication and rely on the phone line for appointments and advice. Jill wasn’t aware of this issue and agreed to contact the telephone company to resolve the issue.
b) Information regarding any staff changes/vacancies
Dr Patel has now returned to the Practice following a period of leave. Dr Chotai has recently left but Dr Lisel Roux, previously a locum, has accepted a post as a salaried GP in the Practice.
5. New Member
Following a request for new members on the Practice noticeboard, Jilly-Jing Duan has attended this meeting to gain an impression of the issues covered and to decide whether to join the group. Following Sandra’s resignation shortly after the last meeting, the notice will remain for a while.
6. Review of the Aims and Objectives of the Group
Graham set out the primary aims and objectives of the group as follows:
· Regularly seeking the views of a representative sample of patients
· Facilitating effective two-way communication between patients and the Practice
· Fostering good relations between patients and the Practice
· Representing the patients voice in Practice policy and the implementation of that policy
· Supporting and encouraging the Practice in its dealings with other bodies
· Identifying areas for improvement.
At the last meeting Dr Sekhon was asked by a group member to present a paper to the group on “what the practice wants / would like to receive from the Committee”. As this was not provided, Jill was asked what she expects from the group but she couldn’t think of anything. It was suggested she canvass staff members regarding suitable issues for the group to focus on which might prove helpful. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) requires all GP Practices to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group (PPG) and she was aware of different formats including a large virtual group. She is amenable to any format. When asked about fundraising for equipment Jill was unable to think of any specific equipment needed by the Practice at present. The donation by a former member had been used to improve kitchen facilities.
Graham reminded the group that the last survey taken by those patients attending the Practice was undertaken during one week in 2024. Prior to that the survey had been postponed due to Covid – the previous one being 2018. Graham considers that surveys every two years is appropriate and therefore potential survey questions will be considered at the next meeting. It is acknowledged that in surveying only those patients attending the Practice, we are obtaining only a small and probably skewed sample. The NHS Friends & Family test surveys patients after appointments and the Practice receives favourable results overall, but the percentage response rate is not known and Jill has no capacity to investigate the reason for any poor reviews.
The group faces challenges in obtaining the views of all patients including those with telephone appointments etc. Data protection issues restrict direct contact with patients by the group and Jill stressed the cost implications of the Practice writing to everyone. The Integrated Care Board (ICB) now pay for all texts but in doing so have asked Practices to restrict their usage to specific purposes. The web site is a standard format prescribed centrally by the NHS with limited scope to amend but Jill considered she might be able to make reference to a future survey on the web page which might attract more responses. It was agreed that the survey would be an April agenda item.
In discussing other ways of communicating to patients, the suggestion of a periodic newsletter was made. Jill has no capacity to produce a newsletter but Malcolm volunteered to co-ordinate this. Items could include issues of a more local relevance including promoting the availability of vaccines at the Practice and issues which GPs might like patients to be aware of. It is not known how many patients use the website but there was a view that newsletters may be read by patients waiting for appointments or taken home by those visiting the Practice. Jill agreed to ask staff if there are any issues they would like to see communicated to patients. The use of village noticeboards was also considered to be a potential mechanism to promote the PPG and any key messages locally.
There is an annual Woking Volunteers Fair where a large number of volunteering groups are represented. This includes many medical groups that might be of interest to the PPG and patients.
Action points will be added to the end of the minutes in future to clarify next steps.
7. Date and time of Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for 10.30am on Tuesday 28 April 2026.
Action Points arising from the meeting
Action by:
Jill
To investigate the issue of the telephone lines cutting out whilst patients are on hold.
Jill /Dr Sekhon
To canvass views from staff regarding any useful issues for the PPG to focus on.
To produce a note for the group specifying the Practice’s expectation of the group, within our terms of reference .
Jill
To assess whether there is scope to amend the Practice’s web page to include a reference to the annual survey forms available in the surgery.
Jill
To ask staff if there are issues which could usefully be communicated to patients via a periodic newsletter or other means.
.