The
Friends of Combe Down Surgery
Charity
Number 1109889
April
2023
Dear Friends,
Since I last wrote two very different events
have taken place, our Easter Fayre and the AGM.
The
Easter Fayre was a well-attended and much enjoyed event
last Saturday. In addition to the ever
popular Cake Stall, and Raffle there was a Plant Stall, Gift Stall and our
usual Books and Puzzles stall. We were
pleased that we raised over £400 to help support the surgery.
Outcomes
from the AGM
The AGM on 1st March was also well
attended
One of the most important outcomes came after
a discussion of the Friends accounts.
The main source of income is the events. The
decision to change to quarterly events has paid off with more money being
raised overall than at the monthly coffee mornings. Minibus donations are an asset but do not
reflect the cost of maintenance. Income
from subscriptions is down to £780. Overall
expenses exceeded income by nearly £4,000 and this needs to be addressed.
The committee had already agreed to a drive to
increase membership. There are now 13000
patients registered to the Practice and many of them are not aware of the
Friends and their activities. A new
membership leaflet has been developed which will be easily available at both
surgeries and new patients will receive the leaflet as part of their package on
registering
There was a lively discussion about an
increase in subscriptions. The members present overwhelmingly agreed to a
committee proposal to raise the annual sub to a minimum of £10.
Members also queried whether Life Membership
was a good source of income for the Friends. There was a motion from the floor
that Life Membership should be discontinued and that current Life members be
asked to consider starting and an annual subscription. This was carried unanimously
and it was also agreed that members should be asked to renew their Gift Aid if
they are taxpayers.
As a result of these decisions a new Standing
Order and Gift Aid mandate comes with this newsletter with a request to upgrade
your annual subscription to a minimum £10 a year or consider starting a new
subscription if you have previously been a Life Member. We hope you will be generous and enable the
Friends to continue to support the surgery with the provision of equipment that
can really improve the experience of patients. If you bank online you will be able set up a Standing Order
or change the amount yourself. In
which case please could you let John know you have done so: j.weinle@talktalk.net
Please note we will continue to honour the membership of Life members who are
not in a position to start an annual subscription and they will continue to
receive the newsletter.
New
Committee members
Very sadly we have lost two long serving
members, Betty Ewing and Frances Uphill in the last year. However we have been
fortunate to welcome four new members to the Committee: Ninette Flowerdew,
Simon Carr-Minns, James Davis and Tony Price all of whom are already playing an
active role.
Coronation Celebration
on Firs Field Monday 8th May
Friends of Combe Down
Surgery will be manning a stall at the Coronation Celebration on the Firs Field
on 8th May so do come along and say hello. The Friends are
planning to offer demonstrations of the use of a defibrillator and
resuscitation techniques and members of the clinical team will be offering free
blood pressure tests. There will also be games to play. There will be a
bar and BBQ and other activities taking place on the field.
Surgery Update
It has been a busy year for everyone at the surgery but there is a sense
of normality returning. The introduction of patient choice of either a
face-to-face appointment or phone call has been well received with one in three
opting for a phone call. The surgery makes 5,000 patient contacts a
month. This includes reviews and outreach initiated by the practice.
Staff continue to wear face masks and request that patients wear face masks to
protect against colds and flu as well as Covid.
The practice has nearly 13,000 patients on its list and is increasing by
approximately 1,000 a year. Staff numbers are growing to cope with this
demand. In addition to students there are three trainee GPs, and the
practice offers training for nurses, physios and pharmacists, as well as
providing training for regular staff. The practice is proud of its Gold
Standard status and high standards of treatment and vaccination levels. The
practice’s dedicated Quality Lead continues to monitor progress.
It is a challenge dealing with the growth in patient numbers and the
practice is rapidly running out of space despite using the Branch surgery
more. However there is now a good team in place
who work well together. This year is the 125th Anniversary of
the surgery in Combe Down and the surgery is looking at ways to celebrate this.
Dates for the
Diary
Summer
Fete: 24th June 10.00 – 12.00
Autumn
Fayre: 23rd September 10.00 – 12.00
Christmas
Fayre: 9th December 10.00 – 12.00
All
these events will take place at Combe Down Surgery. Please do come along and
support us.
Kind
regards
Janet
Janet
Read
Secretary
to the Friends of Combe Down Surgery