Healthwatchblackpool.co.uk

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Minutes of Blackpool Patient Participation Group Network Meeting held
14th August 2013 at South Shore Primary Care Centre.

Welcome: Norma Rogers was in the chair and welcomed everyone to the meeting

Members Present:
Robert Maxfield - Layton
Carole Holmes - Stoneyhill
Sue Smith - Stoneyhill
Margaret Rodgers - Elizabeth Street Surgery
Gavin Quick - Adelaide St/ Kentmere Drive
Harry Cubitt - Marton Medical Centre
David Buckle - Harrowside
Michael Martin - Newton Drive
Terry Bennett - Newton Drive
John Moxham - Highfield
Susan Lancaster - Layton
Pat McLean - South King Street
Norma Rodgers - Chair
Angela Winter - Blackpool CCG
William Green - Stoneyhill
Linda Endicott - Newton Drive
Gwyneth Williams - Glenroyd
In attendance:
Raymond Lee - Chairman of Central Lancashire Pharmaceutical Committee
Helen Kay - Health & Wellbeing Manager, Groundwork Lancashire West & Wigan
Ruth Large - Project Support Office, Groundwork Lancashire West & Wigan
Apologies:
Karen Young - Bloomfield
Julie Savage - Marton Medical Centre
Philip McIntyre - Harrowside
Carol Hirst - South King Street
Ann Hollis - Layton Medical Centre
David Rushworth - Layton Medical Centre
Clair Large - Waterloo Medical Centre
Presentation by Raymond Lee:
Raymond Lee (RLee) advised copies of the presentation would be left with Helen Kay if
anyone wanted one.
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He opened his presentation on the problem of pill identification by saying he had earlier
done a quick search and had found 221 varieties of Paracetamol alone. One problem with
pills is batches. Manufacturers will check a sample size and if there is a problem the batch
is deleted and this leads to a shortage.
In addition there is no international standard for medication. He agreed if for example all
Simvastatin 40mg tablets had sim40 on one side and Joe Bloggs (maker) on the other, life
would be easier but life is not easy. Manufacturing medications has an international
footprint and the pills we have can be (and are) made anywhere in the world. RLee did
advise though that if you advise your local pharmacist you rely on particular colours and
shapes and so can they please keep them for you, they will do their best. They may not be
able to do so, but will look to be helpful. Cost is not a particularly great consideration in
choice because prices tend to stay more or less the same. Some drugs do tend to keep
their colour and shape etc because they are high risk drugs, e.g. Warfarin, Digoxin.
As regards bubble packs, i.e. in 1 container so it easier, these tend to be according to
patient needs, e.g. for dementia patients. RLee also advised in the old days it was a lot
simpler just pouring tablets in a container for us. These days though most medications
come in their own bubble packs so often the colour of the medication is not known until the
pill is popped out of the package. It is also very time consuming to pop pills out of one
package to put them in another (the essence of bubble packs), and so again it is preferred
to restrict this practice to those patients whose needs demand this service.
RLee also advised 1/5 of CCG commissioning is medication. A lot of medications are
expensive, e.g. those for COPD, Diabetes. If things continue the same old way then a lot
of money is likely to go astray. In this regard it should also be noted that once a
pharmacist has handed you your medications then it cannot be taken back for recycling,
any returned medications are destroyed. If we do have unused and unwanted medications
they should be returned to the pharmacist to be safely destroyed.
Michael Martin (MM) asked if there were plans to advise on this. RLee advised that it is
basically down to the patient when they order medication to ensure they only order what is
required. It is their responsibility regarding ordering of medication. Pharmacists can try to
advise patients (medication reviews), but patients need to realise the cost to National
Health.
Following a question from Helen Kay (HK) it was suggested by RLee that this is an issue
perhaps for the PPGN (Patient Participation Group Network) to take up with the CCG as a
collective. That we work together to advise patients on the value of only ordering those
medications that are required. In order to raise awareness on the issue, AW to bring this
up at CCG PPI Forum. Action: AW

RLee advised there is no control over cardboard packages etc, and so some will contain
Braille instructions for the visually impaired and some will not. The problem is not all
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visually impaired people read Braille. Another example being Ramipril which used to be
this preferred way of dark background/light writing, but does have larger writing on it.
On the question of people going into hospital there is the problem that when they leave
hospital the discharge papers are sent to the GP practice, but not their pharmacist, so the
pharmacist is often left without that piece of the jigsaw regarding medication.
RLee also advised that GB is quite unique in that it is quite easy for people to go to their
local supermarket or garage forecourt and purchase some of the 221 varieties of
Paracetamol. You can pay varying prices for what could well be the same drug, and your
recourse is not through CCG but the trading standards authorities.
NR thanked RLee for attending the meeting.

Minutes of Previous Meeting: These were agreed as true and correct(R Maxfield
proposing, H Cubitt seconding).

Matters Arising:
CCG Update: AW advised that although she had missed the previous meeting, she had
met some blind people during her steam train ride from Settle to Carlisle. It transpired
there is a problem for blind people with appointments. The hospital had advised them that
they could not send messages electronically, which they could then use software to have
them transformed into voice messages, because to do so was contrary to the Data
Protection Act. This is a national problem. In addition details of their appointments
needed to be printed on white paper (best for visually impaired people is yellow paper) and
any information by hand was ignored by the technology. AW had taken this to PPI Forum,
and Julie Ward (Equality and Diversity Lead) at Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
said she would take matter up.
In addition, HK advised that the National Association of Patient Participation (NAPP) had
advised that the fee of £60 was per PPG and to join as a group could cost around £300 for
CCG to join as a corporate body. It was agreed that Stoneyhill look to apply as an
individual PPG, but with the CCG covering the costs, and the remaining PPGs sharing in
the benefits.
Transport Task & Finish Group -Ruth Large (RL) advised she had contacted Blackpool
Transport and drawn together the plan presented at the last meeting regarding surgeries
and the nearest public transportation and what had been determined by Blackpool
transport as a short walk. Could the members please provide feedback form their own
practices as to the accuracy of the information given, in particular with regard to the term
“short walk”.
The problem of South Shore Health Centre bus stop (badly situated) was brought up at a
recent meeting of South Shore forum, and the council have agreed to look at the possibility
of changing its location.
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It was noted that Newton Drive Health Centre was no longer at 155 Newton Drive but is in
fact at Newton Drive Health Centre.
South Shore Task & Finish Group – not yet met so HK agreed to write to the chairs of
the 4 GP practices at South Shore inviting them to a meeting. Bill Green agreed to
organise it.

Draft Terms of Reference: These were accepted (David Buckle - proposer, Michael
Martin- seconded).

Update from PPG Meetings: There were no updates at this meeting

Any Other Business:
Promotional Material – HK to get some prices so that we can have our own advertising
material for when we share a stand, e.g. with Healthwatch Blackpool for the open day in
September or Health Mela in October. The cost was thought to be perhaps £200-£250. We
can then ask HK approach CCG to pay for this. ACTION: HK

Volunteers for the Health Mela in the Winter Gardens on October 5. Any volunteers willing
to help man the Healthwatch Blackpool stand at this event, between the hours of 11 to 4,
please notify Ruth Large asap.
Norma Rogers (NR) advised that following the latest Healthwatch Advisory Group it had
emerged that not enough people had their eyes tested. GPs do not routinely ask patients
about their eyesight when giving them medical checks (i.e. when having a medical MOT
an eye check is not included). She recommended all members look to initiate surveys of
both GPs and patients on this subject, and to bring back the answers to this group. We
could possibly look to have a similar campaign to the blood pressure one. The Visual
Acuity Group are already doing some work in this area (plus laminated posters available at
the meeting for members to take away and ask GPs to put up in their practices).
The point was made that eye tests are not free to everyone and this can be a problem, and
so people may have a problem that is not picked up because the GPs do not check eyes
and cost prohibits people going to an optician. S Smith suggested we look to make it part
of a new patient checklist.
Layton Medical Centre advised they are now getting the message of their existence on the
prescription sheets handed out to patients.
Glenroyd – to take up with practice manager the question of staging PPG meetings at
alternate venues (complaints received on this from people based at the Whitegate Drive
practice).
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On Tuesday 17 September, the British Institute of Human Rights are coming to Blackpool.
The event is at the Salvation Army Citadel, Raikes Parade, Blackpool. The event is free to
book, but if you book and do not go then there is a £20 charge.
We were advised NHS England is now asking local communities to help change the future
of GP practices.
Date and Place of Next Meeting – 5:30pm on Wednesday 25 September at Newton
Drive Health Centre. (FY3 8NX - Bathurst Avenue/Newton Drive).

Future Meetings - S Lancaster to invite Jean Hayhurst to give a talk on Cardio Vascular
disease
13 November – Amanda Doyle to give a talk on the work of the CCG. This meeting to be
held at South Shore Medical Centre
18 December - Venue and Guest Speaker to be determined.
Healthwatch Blackpool is supported by Groundwork Lancashire West & Wigan

Source: http://www.healthwatchblackpool.co.uk/assets/files/Minutes%20of%20Meetings/Patient%20Part%20Gp%20Network%20140813.pdf