Caithness CWS - Community Pages - Health & Welfare - Patients Council

Report of meeting held on Monday 17 June 2002 at 2.00 pm in the Conference Room at Caithness General Hospital.

PRESENT: Patients Council

Philip Anderson Anne Campbell Jean Castle

Robert Doull Isabel Ferrier Sandy Macleod

Rena Mappin Ivy Webster

Sheena Craig, Directorate General Manager

Sandy Morrison, Trustee of Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Alison Phimister, Local Services Manager - Caithness General Hospital

IN ATTENDANCE: Kay Oswald, Directorate Assistant

1.	WELCOME Sheena Craig welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Robert Doull, a new member of the council. Everyone introduced themselves to Robert.
		Action
2.	APOLOGIES Donald Campbell Jim Fry Mrs Farley-Sutton Jim McAdie Frances Purves Malcolm Smart Lachie Robertson, Quality Manager, Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

3.	MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING It was intimated that the reference to the Cardiac Rehab Centre under �Any Other Competent Business� in the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 15 April 2002 should read �will be at Raigmore�. In addition the reference to Dr McCrury under �Matters Arising� - Diabetes Service should read �referrals are made to her�. After these amendments the minutes were agreed to be a correct record.

4.	MATTERS ARISING Telephone Rates There were no further queries regarding telephone rates. Outpatient Appointment Bookings Isabel More, Medical Records Manager has indicated that she will pilot the booking of follow up appointments for outpatients following their first appointment at Dunbar Hospital. Freephone Message The Freephone message at CGH was discussed and it was agreed that members should phone the Freephone to establish the suitability of the message. Control of Infection Meeting Sheena intimated that the representation of the Patients Council at the Control of Infection meetings had been requested and refused. The Control of Infection Nurse will be joining the Quality Group of which Jim McAdie is a member and it was felt he could raise any issues with her at these meetings. The Decontamination of Medical Devices was discussed. There is legislation in place therefore this has to comply with national regulations.
	Orthopaedics Clinic at Dunbar Hospital The lengthy wait experienced by a member of the group at an Orthopaedics clinic at Dunbar Hospital was raised with Isabel More, Medical Records Manager. Isabel apologised for this and will raise this issue with her staff and ask them to be more vigilant in future. Franking Machine Logo The removal of the CGH logo from the franking machine was discussed. When mail is undeliverable the Post Office do not require to open the mail if the logo is on the envelope. It was therefore agreed that for confidentiality reasons the logo should be left on.

5.	WAITING TIMES From the waiting list information which was distributed it was noted that the figures dropped in March following the extra sessions which took place as a result of Waiting List Initiative Funding. Highland Region reached their waiting list targets for the end of March. All the outpatients lists are fluctuating within a narrow band. Sheena passed around a new leaflet showing inpatient and outpatient waiting lists and confirmed that this was also available for Raigmore statistics. It was agreed that copies of the latest leaflets should be distributed to the members with the minutes. These leaflets are also supposed to be on display in GP surgeries. It was agreed to confirm this with Alison Phimister. A discussion took place on Integrated Diabetes clinics with the Physician, Chiropodist, Dietitian and Diabetic Nurse all being available at the same time. A member brought up a problem regarding a patient with heart problems and diabetes and indicated that the patient was sent three separate appointments for the Physician, Diabetic Nurse and Dietitian. Sheena advised that the patient should drop her a note with a brief explanation and she would clarify the matter.	KO KO

6.	RENAL SERVICES - Update The following update was given:- Architect has been appointed - Don Renwick It will be a nurse led Renal Dialysis Unit at CGH All funding has not yet been identified, although acknowledged that it is required Buildings are HPCT responsibility and staff and resources will be HAHT responsibility It will be a 4 bedded unit, operating initially Mon, Wed, Fri Potential capacity for up to 16 patients/week Local renal working group has been set up which includes 2 Patients Council members, CGH nursing staff, Estates staff and Raigmore staff Interviews for staff have taken place and 2 members of staff have been appointed with a potential 3^{rd member of staff visiting Raigmore prior to confirming availability Training will begin in July - 5 to 6 months for 2 full time staff and shorter training period required for 3rd staff member Official opening planned for January 2003 Fundraising is ongoing. It was suggested that a form should be sought from the Co-op to apply for funding from the Community Trust funds.}	^KO

^7.	NURSING AUXILIARY PRESENTATIONS A presentation of Glasgow Caledonian Competency Profile Certificates to successful Nursing Auxiliaries is taking place on Tuesday 9 July at 1pm at CGH. Ivy Webster and Rena Mappin agreed to attend on behalf of the Patients Council. NB: This presentation was subsequently changed to coincide with the Minister of Health�s visit on Tuesday 16 July. Ivy and Rena were asked to attend and meet the minister, Malcolm Chisholm for a brief discussion on local issues.

^8.	WORKING GROUPS Quality Group At the recent meeting several issues were raised regarding Domestic Services and the results from the Patient Questionnaires were looked at. It was agreed to distribute relevant patient comments to the various areas and to invite the Control of Infection Advisor to the meetings in future. Three volunteers for carrying out environment audits of corridors and wards at CGH are required. It was agreed that copies of the audit checklists should be distributed to members to give an indication of the requirements. Volunteers should then contact Kay Oswald. Catering Services Review Availability of members for a further meeting is being pursued. Patient Handbook Sheena agreed to chair this group and will arrange a date for the first meeting. Frances Purves will be the representative from the Patients Council.	^{KO KO SCC}

^9.	ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS Confidentiality A breach of confidentiality within CGH occurred recently which had significant consequences for individuals in the community. Individual letters were sent to all staff and a series of meetings were held to remind everyone of the importance of patient confidentiality. A member indicated that there had been a problem recently regarding the passing of misleading information regarding a patient to the next of kin over the telephone. Sheena advised that staff will be reminded of such issues. Display of Minutes Confirmation has been received from Riverbank Surgery in Thurso that the minutes from the Patients Council meetings are always on display. Information for Nursing Home A member was asked recently for an information leaflet regarding the Patients Council. It was agreed that the information sent out to prospective members could be adapted into a leaflet format for distribution. Kay agreed to liase with Alison Sinclair regarding this. Emergency Admissions A member indicated that a patient who was admitted following a severe epileptic fit was given no meal as they had not been on the original ward list for catering. Current arrangements should be that a member of staff contacts the canteen and asks for an extra patient meal. This problem will be highlighted with the catering manager and nursing staff Catering A member indicated that her husband had been an inpatient recently and intimated that all of the men present in the same ward had been very impressed with the catering at CGH. Handwriting The standard of handwriting and the use of abbreviations on prescriptions were discussed. Sheena agreed to highlight the problem with the laboratory staff. Clinical Standards Board - Diabetes Audit An audit will be taking place in May 2003. Anne and Donald Campbell and Jean Castle were invited as representatives for a working group.	^{SCC KO SCC SCC}

^10.	DATE OF NEXT MEETING The date and time of next meeting is Monday 19 August 2002 at 2.00 pm in the Conference Room, Caithness General Hospital.