Meeting Details:
PPG Meeting
12/06/2026
Attendance:
Members Present
Tim Bromwell, Chairman, Patient at Parklands
Anne Baxter, Patient at Parklands, PPG member, Health Champion
Michael Bennett, Chairobics
Amy Collett, Patient Service Manager at Wibsey and Queensbury
Jo Harris, Practice Manager at Parklands
Margaret Grogner, Patient at The Ridge, Knit & Knatter
Emma Gelder, Care Navigation Team Leader at The Ridge, Secretary for PPG
Michael White, Walk Leader for The Ridge and Horton Park Surgery, Health Champion
Cherie Green, Patient at Parklands
Farida Jovid, Patient at Horton Park Clinic
Michelle Powell, Homeless Outreach Team in Bradford Central, Patient at The Bridge
Mick Roy, New Vision Bradford Drug and Alcohol Service
Aaron Bennett, Reception, Patient at Parklands
Apologies
Denise
Ellen
Annela
Martina
Aylas
Matters Arising from Previous Minutes
The Ridge Medical Practice - Lift has been broken for several months. The shaft was filling with water, which was a risk to electrics. The lift was repaired on Wednesday of this week.
HBT site Electric doors: A contractor is booked to go and price up the work.
Commemorative for Alan: A discussion was held regarding a commemorative for Alan. Suggestions included a plaque or a bench. It was decided to explore options for a plaque. Janet will find out some options and send them to Tim for approval before proceeding.
Reports:
Feedback from Practices
Presenter: Various members
Key Highlights and Issues:
- Parklands: System Connect is in the top ten for usage in West Yorkshire. It remains busy on Monday mornings. A standard message is sent for administrative requests when clinical staff are unavailable. Dr Perry has returned from significant treatment and is doing well but remains immunocompromised. Anne Baxter praised the reception team at Parklands for their help with elderly patients using System Connect.
- The Ridge: System Connect is going well but remains busy due to the volume of patients. There are two new job openings in the care navigation team.
- Wibsey & Queensbury Practices using Patches are managing well with occasional challenges related to staff sickness.
Jo Harris - Parklands: A new policy is in place for patients with no means of contact. They are seen by clinicians on the day they present without needing to call back.
Guest Speakers: Michelle Powell and Mick Roy from Bradford Outreach Team
Presenter: Michelle Powell and Mick Roy
Key Highlights and Issues:
They carry a caseload of 20-25 clients. Their role includes assisting with hospital appointments, benefits (e.g., Universal Credit), housing, wellbeing, family issues, social care, and court matters. Many clients have no contact details (phone, post).
- Clients often have multiple needs including mental health issues and substance misuse (alcohol, methadone, buprenorphine,). The team helps organise prescriptions.
- Housing is a major difficulty. Temporary accommodation is limited (e.g., Discovery House on Back End Road has 10 beds). Housing options assess based on risk (health risks, domestic violence) to determine priority. Clients without these categories are not a priority for housing even if they are rough sleeping.
- The 56-day temporary accommodation provided by the council often ends before stable housing is secured.
- The team provides support to get clients into accommodation and then supports them to stay stable over a period of time (e.g., 6-8 months). This includes prevention workers who see clients weekly after the intensive support phase.
- Benefits are often an issue; some clients are on basic UC (£200-300/month) and may be sanctioned by the Job Centre. The team helps with work capability assessments to get them on the right benefits.
- The DWP is considering taking over Fit Note (Med3) issuing from GPs.
- The team provides practical support including food vouchers (from DWP), clothing donations, toiletries (shampoo, conditioner), and sanitary products. They also arrange haircuts.
- Mental health services can be a barrier as they often require clients to be substance-free for 3-6 months before they can be helped. The COMAD team works as a bridge between mental health services and the outreach team to get clients engaged with mental health support sooner.
- The team can be referred to via their website (New Vision Bradford). Self-referrals are also accepted.
- The team deals with substance misuse issues internally, including prescribing and pharmacy reviews.
- Ketamine use is on the rise among young people.
- Nitrous oxide (NOS) use is also prevalent.
- Begging is illegal and people can be arrested for it.
- The team has a good relationship with Bevan Practice, which has a separate outreach service.
- The team has difficulty getting urgent GP appointments for clients needing detox/rehab. An example was given where a client missed a detox slot because an appointment could not be secured for a repeat prescription review.
- The team was informed about the System Connect online triage system at Parklands, which can be used on behalf of clients. A leaflet is available at reception.
- Bevan House Practice: Bevan Outreach provides extra funding and goes out to outreach people. They have a good relationship with the outreach team and can be contacted directly via separate phone lines or WhatsApp. They can see vulnerable clients immediately without an appointment booking.
Feedback from Groups
Presenter: Emma Gelder
Key Highlights and Issues:
- Positive feedback received via SurveyMonkey regarding Health Champions at The Ridge Cousen Road, Comments included praise for being extremely helpful with booking appointments and providing directions.
A request was made for Health Champions to leave the distribution of sample pots to the Care Navigation team to avoid giving incorrect samples to patients.
Chairobics
Presenter: Michael Bennett
Key Highlights and Issues:
- Chairobics is going well with attendance of 18-24 people.
- A commemorative plaque for Alan was discussed. It will be placed in the room used for Chairobics.
Reading Aloud
Presenter: Anne Baxter and Tim Bromwell
Key Highlights and Issues:
- The group continues to meet at Springfield on Tuesday afternoons.
- Attendance is good and growing.
- Patients provide books they want to be read, including works by Mike Harding and J.B. Priestley.
Walking Group
Presenter: Michael White
Key Highlights and Issues:
- Attendance varies between 6-12 people on Thursdays.
- The Wibsey walk has about 20 people on Mondays.
- Harold Park walk has a steady attendance of 12-14 people.
- Insurance issues prevent walks further afield than the local area.
Reception Support
Presenter: Janet Patterson
Key Highlights and Issues:
- The lift being broken has been a significant issue for the last couple of months.
- The lift was repaired this week after being out of order due to water ingress and electrical issues.
Westwood Park Community Garden
Presenter: Michael Bennett
Key Highlights and Issues:
- Phase two of the garden is underway.
- A polytunnel has been installed with funding from JCT
- Sixteen tons of hardcore were laid to suppress weeds.
- Vegetables grown include onions, carrots, rhubarb
- Future plans include growing cucumbers, beans, peas, tomatoes, and strawberries in the polytunnel.
Horton Bank Surgery
Presenter: Emma Gelder
Key Highlights and Issues:
- A contractor is booked to price up work on the electric doors.
- Boots pharmacy has blocked access from their side again by placing a stand in front of the door. This is a recurring issue due to changing management at Boots.
Christmas Meal
- A Christmas meal needs to be organised for this year.
Next Meeting:
18/09/2026
Location to be confirmed.
Anticipated agenda items:
- Community Health Checks (updates)
- Yorkshire Air Ambulance (potential future speaker)
- Living with Pin (potential future speaker)