The Patient Panel for Forum Health Centre met on 7th April, and welcomed a new member and noted the resignation of Mary Jones, one of the founder members for personal reasons.
The main topic of discussion was the issue of opening for extended hours - i.e outside the core hours of 8.00am to 6.30pm. The practice already offers some of the longest opening hours in the city, not closing at lunchtimes or for a half-day. The practice is committed to offering longer hours and more appointments and is looking at a combination of early morning, evening and/or Saturday mornings. This would be for pre-booked appointments only – urgent calls would still be dealt with by the out-of-hours service between 6.30pm and 8.00am Monday – Friday and at weekends.
Formal guidance was still awaited from the Department of Health and Coventry Primary Care Trust, with any new arrangements probably being introduced in the summer.
The Panel also discussed the proposed new Health Centre in Stoke Aldermoor, which was a potentially controversial development prompted by the Government’s wish to see new models of primary care service, using salaried GPs on short-term contracts. There were concerns amongst GPs across the city that this could threaten the relationship between patient and doctor.