1.

WELCOME Sheena Craig welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Douglas Seago, General Manager at Raigmore Hospital who would be discussing the accommodation facilities for relatives which are available at Raigmore.

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2.

APOLOGIES Philip Anderson Isabel Ferrier Jean Forbes Jim Fry Frances Purves Malcolm Smart Lachie Robertson, Quality Manager, Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

3.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING After amending the sentence on Page 2 Item 8 to read, �Jim McAdie intimated that as a member of CAB he heard of complaints but people are unwilling to take them further for various reasons.� - i.e. omitting the word �numerous�, the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 29 January 2001 were agreed to be a correct record.

4.

MATTERS ARISING Waiting Times Information on Outpatient Waiting Lists were handed out for discussion. It was agreed that this was a useful format and Sheena agreed to get the same information for Daycases and Inpatients on a monthly basis.

5.

MATERNITY SERVICES REVIEW Jean Castle reported on the meetings she had attended on behalf of the council and a discussion on the public meetings which had been held in Wick and Thurso took place. A further meeting of the local reference group is due to take place on 12 April then Irene Robertson, Team Leader of the Henderson Wing will be taking the findings from the local reference group meetings to a meeting in Inverness on 19 April. A paper on the review should be available in May.

6.

ACCOMMODATION FOR RELATIVES AT RAIGMORE Douglas Seago handed out a leaflet giving information on the Kyle Court Patient Lodge which is available at Raigmore. There are 8 flats with 3 rooms available per flat. The facilities are used by day case patients who have to travel a distance or relatives of inpatients. The accommodation is free of charge to patients or escorts and costs �14 B&B for relatives. Douglas intimated that the �Ronald MacDonald� rooms are now available for the use of parents with children in the paediatric ward. These are six double rooms that are in the same area as the children�s ward and are fitted out to a high standard. It was agreed that a list of local B&Bs should be identified should accommodation in Kyle Court not be available.

7.

WAITING TIMES This was discussed under �matters arising�.

8.

COMPLAINTS REPORT A quarterly complaints report for the period ended 31 March 2001 was distributed. This gave details on the numbers of complaints raised and the resolution of the complaints.

9.

ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Board Meeting The next Trust Board Meeting will take place on Wednesday 2 May at Caithness General Hospital. An invitation to attend will be extended to all members of the council. Sheena intimated that she will be giving a presentation on the work of the Patients Council at the Board Meeting and discussed the content of the presentation with the members. It was agreed that the future plans should include:- Review �Patients handbook� Review membership of council Monitoring of complaints Monitoring of Waiting Times Highland Health Council Visit Members of the Highland Health Council will be visiting the Queen Elizabeth Assessment and Rehabilitation Unit on Wednesday 11 April. An invitation to meet with members of the Patients Council has been extended. It was agreed that Anne Campbell and Rena Mappin would attend. Kay will contact the Health Council to establish an appropriate time for the members to attend. Future Topics Sheena intimated that David Wares of the Scottish Ambulance Service had indicated that he would be available to come to a future meeting of the council if desired. It was agreed that Sheena should extend an invitation to him. A review of the �Patients Handbook� was also suggested along with a review of the Catering facilities. It was indicated that members of the Raigmore Patients Council pay � ly �ghost visits� to the wards to assess the quality of the catering to the patients. GP Out of Hours Service A discussion took place on the establishment of an Out of Hours Service at Caithness General Hospital. Sheena indicated that there are some problems being experienced at the moment but hopefully these would be resolved and the service adopted as soon as possible. Team Brief Jim McAdie asked for clarification regarding various items on the HAHT Team Brief which he had received. Representation on Other Groups It was suggested that representatives from the Patients Council might like to attend various other meetings within the Hospital. Sheena intimated that she would suggest this to the members of the Hospital Management Group and the Control of Infection Committee. Volunteers from the Patients Council would have to be agreed.

KO KO SCC

10.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING The date and time of next meeting is Monday 4 June 2001 at 2.00 pm in the Conference Room, Caithness General Hospital.