Patient Group

Staffing

Doctors

Since the last PPG meeting there has been a successful round of interviews and the practice has recruited 3 new doctors. 

Dr Fernando who has been working with us through the PCN Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme has decided to stay with us permanently from the beginning of this month and she will be working 6 sessions per week. 

Dr Lazz-Onyenobi will be joining us from 7th April as a new GP partner. She will also be working 6 sessions per week.

We are hopeful of a further GP will be joining us in September.  

This has helped to cover the shortfall that we had in doctors sessions and will allow for continued growth of the practice as well. 

Dr Pathinayake has retired from the end of March.

Nursing

The last round of recruitment for a new practice nurse was also very successful and we have recruited 2 new nurses. 

One will be joining us in May. She is a newly qualified nurse and a few years ago worked at the practice as a receptionist and healthcare assistant before leaving to pursue a career in nursing. We are very pleased she has chosen us to come back to!

A second will be joining us in June. They are currently a community nurse and looking to make the change into practice nursing. 

Carla who was one of our Healthcare Assistants and for the last 2 years has been undertaking the nurse associate course will be back with us later this year full time as her course finishes. 

The extra nurse capacity will allow our trained minor illness nurses to see more patients in this capacity with the aim that this will ultimately release more GP appointments. 

Healthcare Assistants

Our new HCAs have settled well into their roles and the capacity for blood tests and annual health reviews has increased as well as our ability to provide NHS Healthchecks which are an excellent MOT for patients to identify any risk factors and address them early. 

Admin Staff 

We had a new receptionist join the team at the start of February who works afternoons and she is settling well into the role. 

Our care coordinator will be leaving us at the end of May, but her role be taken over by one of our reception team which we are very pleased about. We are therefore advertising again for another receptionist. 

Patient List Size

Our list size has continued to grow and we have about 18,000 patients currently. 

It is believed that there are approximately 10,000 patients living within the Didcot area who are not currently registered at one of the practices in Didcot. This could be due to them moving into the area and not registering with a new GP or people who have never registered with a GP.

Dr Ward is leading on a project to carry out some outreach clinics to try and help identify unmet cardiovascular needs in the local area.  This will start in conjunction with Sofea who run the Community Larder in Didcot which we are hoping will be a good place to identify people who many not be getting the support they need from local health services.   

Practice Premises including Great Western Park

Planning permission has now been granted for the new site at GWP and so work will begin on details for the building design. There will be limited parking at the actual site but it was felt there is plenty of parking around GWP and in the nearby shops.

There will be some scaffolding up at the back of the practice next week due to a leak in the roof that is being fixed. 

Mission Statement

The Practice Mission Statement has recently been reviewed and staff consulted as to what words they felt best described the practice and what we aim to provide. This will be displayed around the building in the coming weeks. The new mission statement is:

6.    PPG Membership and Recruitment 

6.a New members and next steps

The constitution allows for up to 10 members on the PPG. It was confirmed that all the new members present at the meeting would like to become full members. 

6.b Communication and email address 

KH confirmed that all members were happy for their email addresses to be shared with the whole PPG Committee to facilitate communication. All those present confirmed they were happy with this.

7.    Annual General Meeting Planning

KH will see if the meeting can be held on premises on GWP for this meeting. 

The date for the next meeting was proposed as 18th June 5:30-7pm and the agenda will include an update on the new building. 

Any Other Business (AOB)

The new appointment system was discussed and it was agreed that this will be a standing item on future agendas with the aim of trying to improve the service and the patient experience.

The question was asked as to whether the practice is required to use an internet form.  It was confirmed that this has been actively incentivized for practices and that currently there is a drive to insist that it remains open for routine queries all day from October 2025 rather than closing when the practice reaches capacity as it does currently.  The practice is quite concerned about having enough capacity to manage potentially unlimited demand and also that more clinically urgent cases could be lost in amongst a large number of routine queries.  They are also concerned that the lack of cap on demand from the GP surgery will discourage people from seeking alternative help such as from their pharmacist or other services. 

There was some feedback from the committee members that they and other people they know have struggled with using the new form. KH confirmed that if they are struggling people can call into the practice and the reception team can complete the form on their behalf. Some of the committee felt that when you are unwell you don’t want to complete a form but just speak to someone and then they are asked if they can complete the form. The receptionists do signpost to the form as it is often quicker for the patients to complete this themselves rather than wait in the phone queue.

Some people are struggling with the verification step and it was confirmed that they don’t need to do this and that once the form is received it will be matched to their record by the reception team before the doctor then reviews the form.   However, it appears that this is confusing for some patients and may prevent them from using the form and accessing services. 

There was a suggestion from the committee to have a training workshop on how to complete the triage form, possibly at the AGM.

The friends and family text received after appointments was raised as to whether anything is done with the data collected from this and if the frequency of receiving them can be reduced. KH confirmed that the data is available on the website and that she is required to report the data monthly to commissioners and it is also used by other organisations such as the CQC to assess whether there may be a problem with the service provision .  It was acknowledged that repeated requests for these ratings are annoying for patients who are attending multiple appointments and the practice team will look to see if there is any way to manage this better.   

Date and Time of Next Meeting

3rd July 2025, 10:30am at Woodlands

Staffing

Doctors

The practice is currently 10 sessions short of doctor capacity. KH clarified that a doctor session is the equivalent of one weekly clinic and responsibility for around 270 patients, including managing results, prescriptions, and usual care.

Although recruitment occurred before Christmas, one doctor declined the offer. A new doctor was due to start in June but has since also declined the role. Recruitment efforts are ongoing.

The practice is considering temporary GP support through the PCN Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to help with appointment capacity.

Nursing

The practice is advertising for a practice nurse and using agency support due to an ongoing vacancy and health issues affecting a team member. There is good interest in the post this time, offering some optimism.

Healthcare Assistants

Two HCAs were recruited in November and are settling in well. They have boosted capacity for blood tests and annual health reviews. Both are beginning training in wound management and dressings to help in another pressured area.

Admin Staff

A new team member started in January. There are still coverage issues in the afternoons, so the practice is advertising a role specifically to cover this period.

New Appointment System

The new appointment system launched on 9th September 2024. FL thanked Dr Miles for drafting patient guidance but suggested making it shorter and simpler, avoiding jargon like “triage”.

Action: KH to redraft the guidance, with FL assisting with proof-reading.

The new system appears to be working well. Reception staff assist patients with completing forms. Concerns about older patients were addressed: they often start by completing forms over the phone with staff, then proceed independently.

The practice has also signed up to the Healthier Together service, an app developed by GPs and consultants in Oxfordshire to help parents concerned about their children. It offers self-help or referral guidance. The practice can take 10 referrals per day through the app, which doctors find useful due to its symptom clarity and prioritization assistance.

Patient List Size

KH advised that the practice list continues to grow and currently stands at 18,647 patients. Due to current GP vacancies, the practice has around 2,500 more patients than its doctors can fully support. Efforts continue with recruitment, use of locum doctors, and extra sessions from Dr Wilson and Dr Soukup to handle results, prescriptions, and paperwork.

If recruitment is unsuccessful, the practice may need to consider closing the list again to ensure patient safety.

Results from GP Survey

The practice shared last year’s GP survey results. KH noted that patients reported difficulty contacting the surgery, though satisfaction with received care remains high. This feedback motivated the move to an online form system, which has improved appointment availability and accessibility despite some winter constraints and reduced doctor sessions.

The committee agreed on the importance of reviewing next year’s results to assess whether the appointment system change has improved patient contact satisfaction.

Practice Premises including Great Western Park

Progress continues on transferring land from Taylor Wimpey to the Council. All parties are conducting the required checks. Outline plans for planning permission are expected to be submitted soon, with excitement about forward movement. The next steps include working on internal layouts, room specifications, and recruitment.

PPG Membership and Recruitment

Two potential new members expressed interest in joining the committee but were unable to attend this meeting and sent their apologies.

Babs is collaborating with the local school to advertise in their newsletter, aiming to attract parents with spare time to join the committee. She also plans to reach out via the Harwell local community newsletter to generate interest in both the Woodlands and Didcot Health Centre committees.

Any Other Business (AOB)

There was no further business for discussion.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

Originally scheduled for 27th March 2025 at 10:30am.

Post-meeting note: The date has been changed to Thursday, 3rd April 2025.