Thursday 9th November 2004 at 12:30: Assessment Centre Meeting Room, Lothingland

Present: Ian Talbot (Chair), Glyn Reynolds (Minutes) & Ray Hill

      Apologies: Annette Petty, Andy Willcox, Barbara Gutowska, Cliff Dawson, Julie Cracknell, Judith Wilson, Margarita England,  Margaret Goddard, Philip Bloyce, Wendy Arbon & Val Dutton

It was noted that with only three members present, it would be difficult to hold a more constructive meeting than normal.

1.     Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 9th Sept 2004 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

2.      Matters Arising

a)   Page 1 2.e - New Notification of H&S Inspection letter templates have all now been sent out by Ian with the exception of those not on the E-mail distribution list.

b)   Page 1 3.a - No dates have been secured regarding the follow-up inspection date/time at the Bartlet Annexe to Estates & Facilities. Action - Julie Cracknell

c)   Page 2 3.b - This matter is still ongoing.

d)   Page 2 3.c - This matter is still ongoing.

e)   Page 2 3.a - Despite the risk assessment report carried out by Coastal PCT at the Wickham Market Surgery, the matter is still not resolved. Problems still exist around the spiral staircase, no upstairs fire escapes, noise and heat generated from the surgery servers in the upstairs office and a complete lack of welfare for disabled staff which may now be referred to the Disability Rights Commission and the Health & Safety Executive.

f)    Page 2 3.b - Annette will be contacting Val Dutton for dates of the manual handling training sessions for non-clinical staff which are due to take place at Suffolk House, SCH and at G Block in Bury St Edmunds later this month as Health employers are fully aware that all staff must be fully trained and there are certain penalties applied if found the training is not completed.
Glyn reported that the training which used to be held on site for the 150 staff working there is concerned the current training may not be as comprehensive in Learning Disabilities as it should be, being too simplistic away from the normal environment. Three years ago under LHP NHS Trust, the trainers were encouraged to train staff on site including night staff with whom also had the option of being trained during their shift. It was generally felt that this approach could actually save the present Trust money if they arranged to train the staff at Lothingland locally instead of wasting three hours travel time ferrying staff over to Ipswich.
Action - Annette Petty

g)   Page 2 3.d - This matter is now resolved.

h)   Page 2 3.e - Annette will contact Wendy Arbon regarding the fans for the kitchens at Hartismere and report back for the November meeting.
Action - Annette Petty

i)    Page 3 4.c - Still awaiting a reply from Val Dutton at SMHP NHS Trust in respect of panic alarms for hotel service staff at St Clements Hospital in Ipswich.

3.   Workplace inspections by area

a)   Glyn Reynolds - Airey Close, Lothingland - SMHP NHS Trust
Nothing to report as all site inspections are kept up to date.

b)   Ray Hill - Felixstowe Hospitals - Suffolk Coastal PCT
Outside lighting at the Bartlet Hospital is still causing problems by switching on and off constantly. The Estates dept has been repeatedly called via Smart-line to fix the continuing problem but to date have still not responded.

4.   AOB

a)   Communicator Website
The Branch website is regularly updated with information for all members and special representative areas to access which supply standard letters/forms etc to download.

      Special Acknowledgement
This was the last Health and Safety meeting Ray Hill will attend as he is retiring in December. Suffolk HealthCare Branch wish him well and send special thanks for all the work and support over the past years to help us to help our members have a safer working environment. But before we all dismiss him too quickly for a life of falling asleep on the sofa, Ray will be continuing to support the branch in another capacity as he will be taking over the retired members section to eventually replace Ted Moore next year.
Good luck Ray.

      Next Years Meeting Dates For Your Diary

January 12th start time 12:30
March 10th start time 13:00
May 19th start time 13:00
July 14th start time 13:00
Sept 8th start time 13:00
Nov 8th start time 12:30

All meetings will be held at the Lothingland Complex.

5.  Date/Time of next meeting

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 12th January, 12:30pm, Assessment Centre Meeting Room, Lothingland.

Any agenda items please forward to Annette one week before the meeting.                                                                                       

 There being no further business the meeting closed at 2:30pm

IT/ADP