Mark said he had been asked to look at everything across the whole PCN in terms of how they can improve things for all residents, patients and staff.

Mark said they had completely rebuilt the 2HH PCN website www.weymouthandportlandpcn.co.uk. They listened to what people had said in surveys, who felt there were a lot of services available across Weymouth and Portland but were not sure how to find them, how to recommend them to other people or how to navigate to them.

They have included various services on the new website, including health, social care, and various voluntary and charity sectors as well.

They worked hard to make the website mobile friendly as research showed most people were visiting the site on their phones.

To spread the word about the website, they developed Healthcare Heroes which they encouraged all PPG members to sign up to. There is a link to sign up on the home page of the website: healthcare-heroes.org.

As a Healthcare Hero you will receive a monthly email which includes conversation starters - helping to generate conversations out in the community so people start sharing information about the services that are out there and also how you can share this with your friends and family or your colleagues at work. Helping to spread the word of what's going on in the PCN.

The PPG asked if part of the Teams Digital role would include the promotion of new Digital services such online services platforms like eConsult, where previously this would be down to the individual Practices to promote.

Mark said it’s definitely something that the PCN would like them to be involved in and would help people understand how and when to use the different online services. This would then free up some resources for those people who have no interest in using digital services giving receptionists a little bit more time on the phone.

The PPG asked ‘what are you going to do about the people who either don't want to or cannot go onto the websites? What are you going to do for them?

Leanne answered that the more people that can visit websites or use online consultation platforms will then free the phones up for those people that are unable to go online or use smart phones.

Mark also mentioned that W&P are one of the pilot sites for Integrated neighbourhood teams and that they want to make sure that the neighbourhood services are working well for everybody.

They also hope to put a ‘what’s on’ style calendar on the website, to promote different events for organisations all in one place.

Tracey added that the 2HH PCN website could also be accessed by a link on the left-hand corner on the home page of the Practice website.

Social Prescribers added to the Practice website.

DNA Data - The Practice analysed appointments that had not been attended between Mar 2024–Feb 2025 as below:

• Practice DNA GP appt 2.0%
• W&P PCN DNA GP appt 3.8%
• Practice All Appts DNA 4%
• W&P All Appts DNA 3.8%
• Dorset All Appts DNA rate Av at 3.1%

The Practice’s DNA data is in comparison to the other surgeries in the area. The Practice will continue to promote the importance of attending appointments and/or cancelling appointments but do not feel the PPG need to spend any more time looking into this. The Practice will continue to monitor and share our DNA data yearly with the PPG.

Staff to state their name on answering the phone:

Leanne said the reception team had recently had some customer care training and within this they explored the reasons why staff might not want to state their name. They looked at these scenarios and then talked about ways of continuing the conversation in a positive way, so staff didn't feel threatened by saying their name.

Leanne said the Flu vaccination season is going really well and thanked the PPG members who had given up their time and helped out at the flu clinics. To date the practice had given 5200 vaccinations! A PPG member mentioned how efficiently the flu clinics were run and praised the Practice for the organisation of the clinics.

Leanne said there had been significant issues with staffing and challenges with manning the 3 reception desks, answering phones and issuing prescriptions. New staff have been recruited but it takes time to train the new staff. All staff have helped out at different times to ensure reception and phone lines are covered. There has also been sickness within the nursing and phlebotomy teams leading to longer than normal wait times for blood test appointments.

The Practice are looking at a new telephone system, which can include a person’s position in a queue, can record calls and allow a manager to ‘drop in’ on the conversation if needed, which may help reception out with any difficult call. Leanne said she will liaise with the PPG when setting up the new phone system, so it best suits the patients and the Practice.

The PPG asked if the phone system was now centralised? Leanne said whichever surgery number a patient calls, will put them through to the team of receptionists who are answering the phones on that day. They try to have 6 people answering the phones, however with staff sickness this has not always been possible, leading to delays answering the calls. The telephone team are all based in one room at Royal Crescent Surgery, which makes it easier for information to be shared if needed, i.e., if a patient cancels an appointment for the same day, the team can all be made aware – similarly if a clinician is off sick – the team are all aware at the same time.

John said the PPG working group had met twice and discussed a PPG survey to be used at the Flu clinics. The working group manned a PPG table at the 3 flu clinics and asked patients ‘What one thing could improve the service you receive from the medical practice?’

The majority of the answers were that patients are very pleased with the way the practice is going and received comments such as ‘this is much better than the previous practice we've been to’. The other responses could be grouped into Pro’s and Cons of Online contact, Phone lines or Worries.

Please see the attached document for further comments gathered by the PPG.

Dr Costales thanked the PPG working party for the PPG Survey but noted that it was completed by a very small percentage of patients - 84 comments out of 5200 patients at the Flu clinics. (Total Practice patient population 26,000) Dr Costales also mentioned the GP Patient survey, in that 260 surveys were sent out and 82 completed (32% completion rate).

• GP growth has stagnated for years.
• Successive Governments have failed to deliver on promised recruitment.
• The numbers of GP partners, salaried and locum GPs have gone down between 2015 and 2025, but the patient population has increased.
• Fewer doctors are looking after greater numbers of patients.

Dr Costales explained the differences between GP personal lists and Pooled lists. Personal lists are often considered more effective for managing workload, continuity of care, and it allows GPs to build a relationship with patients over time which can lead to better care.

More patients are now using the NHS App and ordering their prescriptions online which is more efficient for the patient and the Practice.

The PPG mentioned that when ordering a prescription online it would state the item would be ready within 2 working days – when recently it had not been processed by the Practice within 3–5 working days. The PPG wondered whether the wording when ordering prescriptions online should be amended to give a more realistic time frame? It was agreed the Practice would review the wording online.

In most cases medication can be ordered up to 2 weeks before it is due. Leanne said that unfortunately there had been times where there has been a backlog of prescriptions due to staff shortage but has been working with the team and training new staff.

Leanne encouraged the PPG members to please let us know issues like this at the time, so we can act on these if necessary.

• Wed 18th February
• Tuesday 19th May