Patient Participation Group

Attendees

• Dr Thaven Chetty
• Sarah Parren (Hub Manager) 
• Jonathan Banting (Chair)
• Helen Banting (Treasurer)
• Sylvia Rhodes
• Peter Lane
• Jeanette Teague (Minutes)

Apologies

• Dave Young
• Joy Round

Apologies and Membership

Apologies from Dave and Joy. Colin and Peter have decided to become “sleeping” members of the PPG from January. They will continue to receive minutes of meetings.

AGM Chair’s Report – January – December 2025

The first of 6 formal meetings during 2025 with the practice happened in January and these have taken place every 2 months. There have been a similar number of internal meetings usually held 10 days before the practice meeting to collect points for the Agenda 

During these meetings a wide variety of topics have been covered

Appointment availability (urgent, routine and blood tests)

• Clarity of messages from practice (text reminders, test results …)
• Feedback on Anima and Total Triage
• Support for Prostate Cancer testing
• Statistics on Appointments including DNA (Did Not Attend)

In addition the PPG has taken part in

• Regular online meetings with Lakeside Management team and the chairs of other Lakeside PPGs
• Meetings organised by Cambridgeshire Healthwatch (including general interest topics and also some dedicated to all PPGs in the area)
• A meeting with the local MP (raising concerns on planned housing developments  impact on medical dervices and getting support for the Prostate Cancer testing event)

The PPG committee has had some turnover during the year and currently has 6 active committee members.

The PPG facebook group has grown slowly and now stands at 195 members

The feedback from these members is a vital part of identifying topics

The PPG has now made its first purchase with the funds raised. See Treasurer's report

At the meeting last week with other Lakeside PPGs there was a common theme that the very successful introduction of Total Triage had totally transformed the patient experience in each practice. This is especially true for Lakeside St Neots and can be seen with the increasing number of positive posts and comments in local St Neots Facebook groups.  The PPG recognises that moving urgent appointment requests onto Anima went beyond the NHS requirement to have routine appointments available online. While it requires more intense effort from the medical team to process the Anima cases it is offering real benefits in patient satisfaction and also more efficient use of the overall medical team.

The most recent NHS Appointment statistics (including November 2025) show a clear jump in the number of appointments per 1000 patients. In the first 8 months of 2025 this averaged 700 but then jumped to close to 1000 in Sep and November (October always has a high spike due to vaccinations). A similar pattern was seen at another St Neots practice that introduced a similar online system for urgent appointments

In 2026 we would like to focus on some broader topics to support patients - ideas include helping the digitally “timid” to use Anima

As chair I would like to thank all of the committee members (past and present) for the time and energy they have put into the PPG and to the Lakeside St Neots practice staff who have engaged so positively with us

Treasurers Report

Start balance £1,523.58  All 12 months of statements are uploaded to the PPG drive

Income during 2025

Paid in from book sales £25,  (less 30p transaction charge)

Interest on savings account £19.63

Total  £44.33

Expenditure during 2025

£176.39 transferred to treasurer to order a wall panel-Mega caterpillar. 

(Due to delay in getting payment authorisation the price had dropped by 17p and this was paid back) 

Total £176.22

AGM 2026 balance £1,391.69

In preparing this report I noticed a new charge on the current a/c of £8.50 on 8/1/26 and called Barclays.

We should have received a letter stating we had free banking for 12 months followed by a monthly fee of £8.50. They accepted we could not see the letter online and agreed to waive the first charge. [ Our communication preference was set to online but because we have multiple signatories this means they cannot be seen !] 

I have asked for a printed copy of the letter and the account opening Terms and conditions.

The next payment is due on 8th February. They will waive this if we close the account.

This would be a charge of £102 a year which is unsustainable with little or no income.

To count as a charity a/c with Barclays we have to be one of the following :

• A Registered fundraiser
• A Registered charity trust
• A Registered community interest company

An alternative bank with free banking is Metro Bank (used by Lakeside Yaxley PPG). This would require the change to be approved in a signed set of minutes. Signatories would also have to go in person to a branch to provide identification and our terms of reference  eg. In Cambridge  

Discussion regarding bank account

Due to Barclay’s charges, PPG have been investigating other banks who offer community/club accounts and it appears that since December 2025 all banks now charge.  Metro Bank now charges £36 per annum.  The only other alternative is for the balance to be held by one of the PPG members in a personal account.  Sarah is happy to remove herself as a future signatory.  Peter also wishes to be removed, and Joy has previously stated that she could be a signatory.  It was decided to  leave the funds in Barclays for another month pending a final decision.  

Action: PPG

Feedback from Practice

Sarah provided practice stats and graphs which all show an improvement since the introduction of Total Triage, ie more appointments and less waiting times. The practice seeks continuing improvement and to undertake projects/events such as the successful PSA testing.  PPG to make suggestions.

Lakeside have recently printed and distributed a leaflet to promote the services at the practice targetted at new patients. Sarah will check if the PPG is included and will provide a copy to the PPG.

Action: Sarah

PPG plans for 2026

• Members of the PPG to meet more patients at clinics (eg PSA testing and vaccination) and possibly to offer help with Anima.
• Dr Menozzi and Jonathan will continue to explore a project to improve the courtyard garden at Eaton Socon. Local groups are being contacted to see if they would be interested in helping.  

Action: Jonathan & Dr Menozzi

• The childrens’ caterpillar toy has been installed at Eaton Socon and Sarah is organising a plaque to state that it was provided by the PPG. If the toy is successful, more will be purchased for Cedar House and Dumbelton. Sarah to provide dimensions. Dr Menozzi is contacting schools to provide murals for surgery walls. Sarah suggested a childrens’ book shelf.

Action: Sarah

• PPG publicity was discussed eg paying for entries in local magazines however this was not agreed.

Matters Arising From December Meeting

• Peter had provided screenshots to Sarah regarding the “patient advised” statement on NHS app regarding test results. The practice believe that this statement appears once the patient views their results on the app.  However Peter does not believe this to be the case in his example. Sarah to speak to Dr Barz who had reviewed Peter’s results.

Action: Sarah

• Medication review dates – these are mainly for staff information as not all reviews will require the patient to attend at the surgery.
• Complaint and comments trends – Dr Chetty has some data which he will review and share with the PPG.

Action: Dr Chetty

• Problems at Cedar House re collection of samples was due to an IT problem.
• Patient feedback on local social media has been extremely positive recently. One negative comment was discussed. Sarah confirmed that 2 GP partners operate Total Triage every day and most patients receive a same day response and they are gaining confidence using Anima which no longer needs an account to be set up.
• Staff update – Dr Ismail is leaving. The practice is recruiting for a part time partner to replace him. Two receptionists are leaving and will be replaced. A nurse is back from maternity leave so there are now 6 nurses in total.

AOB

• Sylvia asked about a patient waiting for knee surgery which had been put on hold by Hinchingbrooke pending agreement from cardio specialist. Since this was agreed the patient hasn’t heard anything and is concerned that he is back at the bottom of the waiting list. Sarah advised that the GP practice doesn’t receive this information from Hinchingbrooke therefore the patient will need to contact the hospital eg medical secretary or PALS or submit a complaint to the Chief Executive.
• Headlands surgery Kettering supplied a copy of a new leaflet they devised entitled “How to help your doctor”.  They asked for feedback. The consensus was that it was mainly common sense and would not really add anything for our local patients.

Next Meeting

Monday 13th April at 6.00pm