Agenda item

Members will receive a report from Unity Health on difficulties patients are experiencing contacting the practice.

Members considered a report from Unity Health which provided a response in relation to the difficulties which had been experienced by patients in contacting Unity Health. As previously agreed by the chair, the two speakers, registered under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme,  addressed the committee at this point in the meeting.

Michael Urquhart, a patient of Unity Health, spoke to explain the problems he had encountered in trying to make appointments at the practice since the new surgery had opened. He expressed the view that a 4-5 page online appointment form was too onerous, especially for older people and then meant a delay in getting an appointment confirmed.  He also spoke about the problems with the telephone line which had kept callers in a queue for a long period of time and then disconnected them without speaking to anybody.  He advised that having failed to make an appointment by phone, he had visited the surgery but had been told her could not do this in person and would be contacted by email.

Councillor Mark Warters spoke to advise the committee that he had been contacted by a resident who was a patient of Unity Health and had been asked to read out a statement on her behalf which provided an account of her experiences with Unity Health in relation to medical treatment received by her late husband. The scrutiny officer clarified that officers had offered him procedural advice that, in line with the council’s procedure rules on public participation, the statement should not be read out at the meeting as it disclosed confidential or exempt information including personal information, and that he and the resident had been offered advice on the best route for getting her complaint dealt with.

Representatives from Unity Health and the CCG were in attendance at the meeting. They summarised the problems which the practice had experienced and how Unity Health had responded to them.

During discussion Members considered the following issues

·        How the ongoing problems had been communicated to patients

·        How the problems with the new system had been handled

·        Whether sufficient resources had been in place to deal with new system and sufficient staff to take calls

·        The online booking system and whether this was potentially discriminatory to certain groups of the population including older people

·        Whether there had been unprecedented levels of demand at the practice

·        Whether the project manager held a professional qualification in project management.

Representatives from Unity Health and the CCG acknowledged that:

·        there was recognition that there had not been enough staff to take calls - 2 full time call handlers had now been employed to work alongside practice staff to answer phones.

·        they had been slow to communicate problems to patients – they advised that all patients had now been contacted to advise them of the situation – as some members of the audience expressed concern that this was not the case, they agreed to check that all patients had been contacted

·        the triage system was a part of NHS policy – this may be reinstated but only alongside fit for purpose telephone system.

·        the online booking method would not be primary method for getting in contact with surgery

·        The surgery was open until 8pm on Mondays to Thursdays and also open on Saturday mornings to deal with demand from patients.

·        with new university students due to arrive soon to start the new academic year in September, they would partner up with Gillygate practice who would take new registrations.

The representatives from Unity Health expressed their sincere apologies to those patients who had suffered as a result of the problems experienced at the practice and assured them that the issues were now being dealt with. They assured Members that they intended to learn from the problems to put them in a better position to serve patients from now on. They offered to provide an update on progress to the committee in a few months time. Representatives of the CCG agreed to take away what they had learnt from the failure of the telephone system and share this with other practices to ensure it didn’t happen elsewhere.

Members thanked representatives from Unity Health and the CCG for attending the meeting and being open and honest. They expressed confidence hope that the measures being put in place at Unity Health would enable them to turn the situation around in a short period of time and agreed that a further update to the committee in 3 months time would be appropriate.

The Director of Public Health acknowledged that the focus of discussion at the meeting had been around Unity Health but noted that the problems they were experiencing had exposed some wider issues and shown that, with two universities and colleges and around 30,000 students in York, there was increasing pressure on the wider health system. She explained that this was an opportunity to look at the bigger picture and the broader impact this was having on the city.

Resolved: 

(i)      That the update from Unity Health and the CCG be noted.

(ii)      That Unity Health be invited back to the September meeting of the committee, to provide a further update.

(iii)     That the Director of Health bring a report on student health to a future meeting, in order that Members are aware of ongoing work.

Reason:     To ensure the needs of patients in York are being fully met