PPG Meeting Minutes July 2026

• Date: Thursday 29th of July 2026
• Chair: Adrian Pitts
• Minutes: Jo weston 

Apologies 

• Susan Holleran 
• Arlene Hansell 

Present 

• Dr Julia Wakeham (JW)
• Jo Weston (JO)
• Mark Munday (MM)
• Andrew Stanley (AS)
• Lynn Fitzjohn (LF)
• Robert Cresswell (RC)
• Peter and Patricia Williams (PW)
• Nick Anderson (NA)
• Susan Nichols (SN)
• Andy Mackie (AM)
• Carol Williams (CW)

Guest(s)

• Sue Alder 

Welcomes and Introductions 

Introduction from AP and new attendees welcomed. Two new members have joined via the website.

Minutes of the last Meeting 

Agreed  

Matters Arrising 

ANIMA AS raised a concern. Consensus was that lots of people are still unsure of how it works. JW stated that it is working for well for most patients but if people are unsure, they should contact the surgery phone or in person to ask a member of staff for help.  The anima system is open all day during surgery hours, this was reiterated and explained that if anyone is trying to submit an anima once we have used all our urgent appointments for that day then it will direct them to an urgent treatment provider IF the problem/request is not deemed as routine. Only routine requests can be submitted for triage once we are capacity for urgent appointments.   Some discussion on the ability to submit anima’s out of hours – JW confirmed this is clinically unsafe. Anima requests are disabled outside surgery hours to ensure patient safety and match clinical capacity. Because requests require active review and triage by doctors and staff who are not on duty overnight or on weekends, keeping the system closed prevents unread messages from accumulating and ensures inquiries are handled promptly. The downside of anima is that patients can submit medical requests as an admin request and this could lead to an urgent problem not being reviewed in a timely manner.

Woodlands Update: JO 

Inspection report: CGC report is available to review online. Overall reccomendation is Good

JO explained that an action plan had been drawn up and implemented for one section of the report.  RC asked about what the section ‘well led’ meant in relation to the practice. JO/JW explained that this reflected staff feelings and wellbeing at the time of the inspection. It was the time we changed over to total triage and the practice was going through some quite substantial changes. Roles for various members of staff were changing significantly and quickly, and we have had to reflect on this. Staffing: JW Following a successful round of interviews for the Practice Manager role – JO has officially been appointed. JO advised we now have a new APM Gemma Steel. She comes to us from the trust and has a strong managerial background. We are currently a GP short as Dr Bertoni has moved on. We have secured a new GP, Jessa Lyons and she will start in October. We are still assessing our needs as our patient list continues to grow and may advertise for another salaried GP going forward.  

The Future of the Building 

CW asked about the lease to Woodlands Health Centre and how this progressing. The talks are ongoing, but we see no complications at this stage. J0 is managing this with Richard Tosh our GP Finance Lead. This proposal includes looking at more space and the Kent & Medway ICB are on board with this. However, everything is still in the early stages of planning and negotiations. 

Forward Planning 2026/27 AP

AP spoke about changes in how we manage the and maintain a good, responsive PPG. The draft TOR proposal was reviewed and key points raised.

• Purpose: The Woodlands Patient Participation Group (PPG) acts as a bridge between patients and practice staff, helping ensure services reflect patient needs.
• Patient Voice: The group gathers feedback, identifies patterns or gaps in services, improves access, and shares clear information with patients. 

New Vision and Strategic Alignment:

• Health promotion: The PPG supports health awareness campaigns and helps patients understand available health and social care resources.
• Membership: Membership is open to all registered patients, with an aim to reflect the diversity of the practice population. 
• Practice involvement: The core group should include at least one GP and a practice management representative. 
• Terms of office: The Chair, Deputy Chair, and committee members normally serve one-year terms and may stand again. 
• Meetings: The PPG will usually meet up to four times a year, either in person or virtually; the committee may meet more often. 
• Transparency: Meetings will have agendas and formal minutes, which will be published on the practice website once agreed. 
• Decision-making: A quorum of five members, including a practice representative, is required for official decisions or recommendations. 
• Conduct: The PPG is not a forum for individual complaints, grievances, or personal medical issues. 
• Confidentiality: Members must maintain patient confidentiality and may be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. 

PPG TOR and future membership/meeting pattern

AP led discussion on how to include a wider patient demographic to take part or submit feedback to the PPG. How to encourage people to be more actively involved and how we can spread the word about the PPG in general. How meeting will look going forward. Changing the times of meeting so not always in the evenings and maybe arranging some meetings virtually.  Discussion re current members taking the ideas away and promoting them in their various community groups and organisations. How the surgery can promote it and how we in the long term ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. Ideas are free flowing and that ultimately, we are working together to provide information to all our patients.  The new Terms of Reference (TOR) was agreed. AP - New PPG notice board in reception up and running.  JO will task an admin member with reaching out via posters and social media and through our website.   

• 2026–27 agreed focus areas: Chair and liaison, communications, community connections, inclusion, NHS insights, strategic thinking, and digital access.

Any PPG action from items 4 & 5 

Item 4: none Item 5: Current members taking the ideas away and promoting them in their various community groups and organisations. How the surgery can promote it and how we in the long term ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. AP to explore setting up a PPG Gmail account.  JO suggested the PPG could advertise the new roles on the WHC facebook page.

Guest Speaker Sue Alder Managing Director from the Kent and Medway ICB. 

 7.1 Short Talk from Sue Adler Managing Director EK360 – the Kent & Medway ICB are canvasing opinions about the future of healthcare (Guest Speaker) Commissioned by ICB to conduct a public survey that asks ‘where next?’ Asking patients what they think their care should look like going forward. It is open until 1st September 2026: Here’s the Kent & Medway link: What matters most: commissioning intentions It was suggested that we could have a patient information evening.  Eg, Pharmacy first. What is it and how does it work? JO will look into. It is an interesting concept but may take a little while to set up while we are still navigating some operational issues. AP also has a contact for this. 

Date of Next PPG Meeting 

Monday the 26th of October at 6pm.