TUESDAY 18 MAY 2004 @ 2:00 PM IN THE PICASSO ROOM St CLEMENTS HOSPITAL

Present:  Arthur White, Ray Hill, Margarita England, Julie Cracknell, Steve Cook, Ian Talbot, Philip Bloyce (Chair), and Annette Petty (Minutes)

Apologies:  Elaiyne Jennings, Cliff Dawson and Paul Taylor

1.  Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes of the last meeting held on 20 April 2004 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

2.  Matters Arising

a)  Page 1. 3b - Generally, the road shows were very good especially at Patrick Stead and new members joined at all venues. Ian, Philip and Annette to look at 6 potential venues for Autumn with Britannia when they meet on 27 May (e.g. SCH Canteen - table agreed with Carol Clarke, Senior Facilities Officer, Lowestoft and Aldeburgh Hospitals).

b)   Page 1. 3c - Ian has been in contact with John Levantis at Suffolk Coastal. The staff handbook is currently ongoing, currently in the “making up stage” - update at June meeting.

c)   Page 1. 4a - Annette to write to Mark Hillis (with new nomination form) who is moving workplaces from Coastal PCT to SMHPT at the end of May. He will be re-ratified at the June meeting should he re-submit his nomination.

d)   Page 2. 4b - Georgia Murray and Matt Robinson have both resigned from their posts within the branch. Annette to send an acknowledgment letter in addition to Jamie Starling and Kay Dawson. The Branch now has a spare PC - please contact Ian Talbot in the first instance if anyone is interested. It was agreed that when a steward retires they should automatically receive retired membership - the £15 paid by the branch. Annette to write to Sandra Smith (retired in March) and inform Ted Moore, Retired Members Secretary. Annette has written to each steward informing them of their constituency, telephone, email address - Ian is producing posters to be distributed in due course - in prototype at present. In addition, he is sending out the latest Branch Officials list (which will show stewards/constituencies/employer split). Employers have been sent an up to date list of all the stewards/reps within the branch following the AGM held in April - this list will be sent out annually each year. Notification of Workplace Reps forms have now been returned - Annette to send reminder to those reps still outstanding.

e)   Page 2. 4c - The first training morning was a success - Cliff, Arthur, Julie H, Julie C and Margarita attended which was run by Ian and Philip (Geoff unfortunately unavailable) the emphasis places on communication with members/non members. The next morning is planned for 13 July.

f)    Page 2. 5 - The bullying/harassment training day has been confirmed for Monday 28 June, Boardroom, Suffolk House, SCH site.  Annette has written to all stewards/reps asking attendance for this important training day. Report to be made at July branch meeting to discuss analysis learned, conclusions and “what next” to be carried out as a branch. Suffolk West has expressed an interest in the employer 1 day course - Annette to email Linda Durrant at region and Hilary Bright at Thingoe House.

g)   Page 3. 7b - There were no nominations for the following outstanding branch posts:- Political Officer, Welfare, Lesbian/Gay, Equal Opportunities, Black Members and Education. It was decided the branch collectively takes responsibility for these posts.

h)   Page 3. 7c - PCT’s have launched A4C there were 60/70 approximately at the launch on 14 May - but there is no funding. A Project Manager, Diana Brown has been appointed for 2 months from May to July. Philip to meet with her on 20 May - he has emailed the briefings/JD to 900 members via email. Anna Selby, Chief Executive at Coastal PCT is a member of the Steering Group with Aden Dunn, Finance Director at Suffolk West. Over 85% of staff will be affected by A4C. Philip reiterated that they are unable to get anyone to help with the job matching/job evaluation and, until there is a stronger position from the Mental Health board the whole A4C seems “mismanaged”. The responsibility lies with Trust Board and we need a “clear message” regarding the situation.

3.   Urgent Correspondence

a)   Letters received from the Labour Research Department and Justice for Columbia asking the branch to affiliate. Unison is closely connected to the LRD - any rep can access the website which is www.lrd.org.uk - and information pages can be accessed via the unison website. The meeting decided to affiliate £80 to the LRD and £50 to Justice for Columbia respectively.

4.  Stewards Reports

a)   Arthur White - Patrick Stead                                                                                                                                                          Arthur reported that a staff member from Livingstone Ashford Unit (which is closing) could not transfer to work in the community due to not being able to drive. HR have now offered to help/pass on job sheets but the member has received nothing to date. They are due to meet with the HR manager, Tracy Greenwood on 26 May for 15 minutes to discuss the situation. Arthur to follow up and report back at June meeting. He also mentioned the next JSC meeting minutes held at Lowestoft recently - Ian to forward by email.

b)   Steve Cook - Eastern Ward SCH                                                                                                                                                    Steve has spoken to Tim Smith regarding a member who was issued with new terms and conditions contract for redeployment which he is following up - the situation is ongoing. He also mentioned that the Trust’s intranet is not up to date with unison information - Steve to contact Lesley Poole regarding the problem. He was also concerned about a recent “extraordinary meeting” held with work managers and Margaret Little regarding budgetary constraints and suggested changes to the work patterns.

c)   Ray Hill - Felixstowe Hospitals                                                                                                                                                            Ray attended Healthcare Conference in Glasgow recently (report in June meeting). In general, conference was not as controversial as last year - 64 delegates attended from the Eastern region. There was no card vote for A4C which had a “subdued atmosphere”. The 15 motions were passed unopposed. Unison are balloting its members in October for the final vote on A4C. Ray queried the voting on the ballot cards which should be based on the number of members in a branch - currently our branch has a membership over 2000 members (1128 members according to conference 2003 figures).

d)   Annette Petty                                                                                                                                                                                 There were 34 new members who joined in March and 29 in April. Branch membership is now at it’s the largest capacity after cleansing which broke the two thousand barrier at its current status. Problems still exist due to difficulties obtaining DOCAS information from payroll on a monthly basis showing the member/subscription amount paid and leavers. This dispute is long standing and centres around “data protection” and a financial re-charge imposed by shared services. Philip to contact Payroll to try and obtain the information on a regular basis. Matter also to be raised at next JSC meeting. Region will be conducting DOCAS training in July on the RMS system. 

5.   AOB

a)   Ratification of New Stewards

Barbara Gutowski new steward, Social Care Staff was ratified at meeting - Annette to write to Barbara with information pack, and employer.

Date/Time Next Meeting

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 15 June at 2: pm in the Picasso Room, St Clements Hospital.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 3:45 pm.

Any agenda items to be forwarded to Annette a week prior to the meeting.