Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday 19 November 2002 at 2.30pm Picasso Room, St Clements Hospital

Present: Paul Taylor, Cliff Dawson, Ray Hill, Linda Bird, Georgia Murray, Matthew Robinson, Philip Bloyce (Chair - Minutes) Guest attendance: Ian Talbot (Branch Secretary)

1.   Minutes of the previous meeting:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 October were agreed as a true and accurate record.

2.  Matters Arising from the minutes:

There were no matters arising.

3.   Correspondence:

a    Appeal for financial help for UNISON overseas projects                                                                                                                        Ian pointed out the financial position of the branch and the need to spend some monies before we hit the £20,000 level. To this end we are having the branch office decorated and new furniture installed in the very near future. A decision was made not to give a donation to the original request tabled rather Friends of Palestine.

c    APF Regional Conference                                                                                                                                                                      Ray Hill gave a verbal report on his attendance at this conference and also handed out paperwork from the day. It was agreed that the paperwork would be circulated with the minutes. Ray will be attending this meeting in the future on behalf of Suffolk Healthcare.

d    Part time workers pension cases                                                                                                                                                         The report was noted and agreed to circulate with the minutes.

4.  Stewards Reports:

a)   Paul, Linda and Cliff                                                                                                                                                                             The situation in Walker Close with a change of the managers on site, this is for an initial 3-month period. A number of complaints have been received recently causing the changes to be made. A suggestion was made for UNISON to have an open meeting on the site. This is to be arranged in the near future probably in December, possibly this may have to be repeated to ensure all members are able to attend. Paul reported the need to carry out safety inspections, Ian commented that these should be happening at all sites. Philip reported a meeting to be held next week to harmonise terms and conditions for staffs at Stourmead Close in Kedington near Haverhill.

b)   Georgia Murray                                                                                                                                                                               Georgia reported that she recently completed the Improving Working Lives Assessor training recently. This means she will now be able to go and assess other Trust’s in the region.

c)   Ray Hill                                                                                                                                                                                                  Ray reported no major problems at Felixstowe Hospital’s only problems with car park lighting and security that he is dealing with local managers.

d)   Matthew Robinson                                                                                                                                                                      Matthew reported that he is to attend the lesbian and gay conference on Friday for 3 days in Plymouth. Matthew will produce a report for the next branch meeting on the conference. Discussion took place on the best way to communicate with lesbian and gay members. It was felt that the website was the best entry point for information, Matthew to liase with Ian on relevant information to be placed on Communicator.

5.  New Stewards:

The following were ratified as new stewards and H&S reps:

• Sharon Boltwood- Learning Disabilities Stourmead Close

• Sinem Salman- Learning Disabilities Stourmead Close

• Kay Dawson- WS drug advisory service (H&S)

6.   Conferences:

The dates and delegates to upcoming conferences were noted.

7.   Any Other Business:

The agenda items were noted and received and item C as to who should receive the constituency report form Chris Mole should go to Ray Hill and Gordon Morris.

There were no other matters for discussion and the meeting closed at 3.45pm

8.   Final Meeting for 2002:    

17th December @ 14:30

Monet Room St. Clements Hospital Foxhall Road Ipswich

Paul Taylor offers advanced apologies for this meeting.

minutes: PB - Chair