Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forum South Tyneside Hospitals and Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forum South Tyneside Primary Care

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 General Information  As volunteers drawn from the local community PPI Forum members take their responsibility for ensuring the public have a say in the development of Health Services very seriously, giving up a lot of their time to deliver their Work Programmes.  This last year has been particularly difficult for them because of the speculation over the future of PPI Forums, the way in which they will be supported and,,most recently, the potential merging of South Tyneside Primary Care Trust with Sunderland and Gateshead.  It is a measure of their dedication and commitment that they have managed to influence a number of issues during this period and, as the Forum Support Project Manager, I wish to place on public record my appreciation for their efforts.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 General Information  The imminent publication of the White Paper on Health & Social Care will, hopefully, give a firm indication of Government support for Patient and Public Involvement in the Health Service and help define the relative roles of PPI Forums and Overview & Scrutiny Committees, both of whom have a major role to play.  This is, therefore, an opportune time for PPI Forum and OSC members to meet because it gives an opportunity to discuss respective Work Programmes and look at how we can work together for the benefit of the local community.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Hospitals Current activities.  Hospital Car Parking. Members of the public raised concerns with the Forum about:  Lack of spaces, particularly disabled spaces  Inappropriate parking charges  Careless/inconsiderate parking The Forum initiated discussions with senior Hospital staff and, working with the Trust, managed to implement the following:  A revised charging policy, including the introduction of a discounted weekly pass for frequent visitors  Hospital employees to use allocated spaces – not those set aside for the public  The Hospital is seeking planning permission to create more spaces  The introduction of a new, free of charge, bus service around the grounds for those who have to park some distance away from the entrance they need.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Hospitals Current activities.  Hospital Car Parking (cont) The Forum would welcome the opportunity to liaise with OSC about the planning application because of the many benefits it would bring to patients and visitors.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Hospitals Current activities.  Representation at meetings of Trust Board of Governors and Board of Governors Communications sub-group. The Forum has been concerned about keeping abreast of activities and initiatives within the Trust, especially since it became a Foundation Trust. Having obtained agreement to a request to attend the above meetings the Forum is happy that it will have enough information to fulfil its role and will also be able to exert early influence to ensure patient and public views are properly taken into account.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Hospitals Current activities.  Refurbishment of Ward 20. The Forum is happy to have been able to offer comment and support about refurbishing this ward – which is for older people. The Forum also intends to revisit the Ward in the future to talk to patients, carers and staff to find out if it has delivered what people want.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Hospitals Current activities.  Cancer services. The Forum became involved with a review of cancer services which resulted in:  Patients being given more information about the support services offered by the voluntary sector  Lymphodema training for hospital staff  Liaison with the Primary Care Trust, Cancer Health improvement Group.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Primary Care Current activities.  Survey of GP appointment systems. The Forum, with assistance from the PCT, arranged to have 50 patient questionnaires distributed to each of the 29 GP surgeries in the borough. 600 replies were received with the following outcomes:  People are generally content with appointment systems  Some concerns about “call back” arrangements  The Forum is meeting with the Director of Primary Care and Primary Care Manager to consider possible policies around appointment systems and look at Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) scores  The Forum wants to visit 5 practices with patient groups and compare them with 5 practices without patient groups

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Primary Care Current activities.  Private Consultation areas in pharmacies. Liaising with Healthnet, the Forum approached all pharmacies in the Borough to ask them to consider providing private consultation areas – a subject which is now covered by the new contracts. Those who do not have these arrangements are being encouraged to introduce them.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Primary Care Current activities.  Carer registration with GP surgeries.  Working closely with the PCT the Forum has maintained a strong interest in a pilot exercise to encourage carers to register with GPs.  The Forum is delighted that 26 of the 29 practices have signed up to the registering and reporting system.  The Forum will continue to monitor the exercise and look to see if registration encourages a greater take-up carer support services – e.g. Carer’s Needs Assessments.

Presentation to South Tyneside Council Social Care & health Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday 31st January 2006 PPI Forum South Tyneside Primary Care Current activities.  Raising the profile of PPI.  Members are keen to become involved with a wide range of community groups and, as a starting point, is talking to the Choosing Health Team, Healthworks satellite projects and CREST (Compact for Racial Equality in South Tyneside)  This will establish two-way communication to encourage the identification and pursuit of health issues