THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDS OF MILFORD HOSPITAL
Registered Charity no: 204748
www.milfordhospitalleagueoffriends.com
MINUTES OF THE 65th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING held on FRIDAY 24 MARCH 2024
Welcome
Jenny Millar opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Especial thanks to Martin Davies, RSCH Charities Governor, who has agreed to be our guest speaker. He will share this with Danny Bailey, Director of Strategy at RSCH.
This year we have said goodbye to John Sandy who was involved with the League of Friends for many years. I joined Milford Hospital in 2000 and met John, and his wife Clare, when they visited the hospital where John talked to staff and patients and Clare worked in the garden.
Apologies
The Secretary confirmed apologies have been received from 12 people
Minutes of the 64th Annual General Meeting held 24 March 2024
Jenny Miller asked the meeting to accept the minutes, proposed by Jacquie Robini and seconded by
Margaret Jago. The meeting approved the minutes as an accurate record.
Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
Chair’s Report
The work is going well at the hospital for the new Diagnostic Unit which will be so good for the community. Parking has been difficult and there are now 8 new spaces.
A bladder scanner has been purchased.
There is now a permanent gardener for the courtyard garden and we shall provide chairs, benches and tables so the patients and staff can enjoy this space.
We have financed a website specifically for dementia patients called Sparkle It is proving very popular with patients and staff.
We have provided 4 new rotundas which assist patients to transfer from the bed to chair and helped with patient dignity and independence. One was paid for by NEXUS who made us their charity for last year.
We are saying goodbye to two of our committee members.
Pam Hewson who has been a member for 22 years and has undertaken work in the garden, assisting with the trolley and providing tea service at the Christmas and Summer events. Pam has also arranged the venue for all the meetings held whilst the building work is in progress. Jenny thanked her and presented her with flowers.
Jacquie Robini, our previous Chair, who has carried on in the committee and has been a great help to me over the last few years. Jenny thanked her and presented her with flowers.
Treasurer’s report
Andrew Bolton, Treasurer, presented the accounts. There has been limited income and expenditure this year. £10K has been deposited into savings. The accounts do not reflect the purchase of the bladder scanner but we are committed to paying for it and this will be in next year’s accounts.
Community Matron’s Report
Jenny Millar introduced Zoe Goodfellow, Community Matron for Haslemere and Milford.
Milford Hospital has 30 beds in 2 wards.
There has been decorating and reorganization on the wards. Holly Ward is now completed.
3 rooms have been reconfigured on the wards for clean utilities and storage. This has improved the working environment for staff.
35 patients are now nursed at home under Hospital at Home. They are given the option of being in hospital or being seen at home. The physios, OTs and nursing staff are all working together.
Five nurses from India and Philippines have started working at Milford. We are retaining staff which is good and they are all working hard and well together. Lynette Nunn, Senior Sister, is responsible for training the new nurses and providing CPD for all staff. Training days are run each quarter and are proving very popular.
Lunch is served twice a week in the day room with music etc. organised by the physiotherapists.
The Courtyard Garden is looking really good.
Jenny says she is delighted that Milford Hospital is going back to what it was when she worked there. Zoe agreed and said the main objective is to get the patients back to their own homes. This is good for the Royal Surrey as the beds are being freed up for the acute patients.
John’s Campaign was started by the parents of a child patient and this enabled parents and family members to stay with the patient while they are in hospital. The LofF provided a fold up bed which is being used by family members especially for end-of-life patients.
Jenny thanked Zoe for her report and commended the staff at the hospital.
Election of Officers:
Chair
There being no other nominations Jenny Millar was proposed by Alison Martin and seconded by Jacquie Robini and voted unanimously to be the Chair.
Vice Chair
There being no other nominations Margaret Jago was proposed by Geraldine O’Sullivan and seconded by Pam Hewson and voted unanimously to be the Vice Chairman
Secretary
There being no other nominations Geraldine O’Sullivan was proposed by Margaret Jago and seconded by Jenny Millar and voted unanimously to be the Secretary
Treasurer
There being no other nominations Andrew Bolton was proposed by Geraldine O’Sullivan and seconded by Jenny Millar and voted unanimously to be the Treasurer
Committee members:
Alan Day, Cath Lovell and Alison Martin were unanimously appointed en bloc to be the committee.
Guest Speaker
Jenny Millar introduced Martin Davis Charities Governor RSCH
He became Charities Governor last year and his main role is all matters of oversight and overseeing the directors. He has lived in Guildford for 20 years and his wife focusses on care of older people and is part of a group reporting to the Government on people living in their own homes. He originally volunteered with RSCH as he had been an inpatient and so has personal experience of the first-class care at RSCH. He became interested in the Prostate Charity following a diagnosis and has now become Chair of the charity. He found this very rewarding and has now accepted the Charities Governor role.
He has been getting more involved with charities within the RSCH including all League of Friends, Prostate Charity, Bright (pancreatic cancer), Greys (ovarian cancer) and the Fountain Centre. His aim is to try and bring a degree of order to charities which is tough at times getting volunteers, especially younger ones.
Fundraising is also problematic. It helps to avoid holding similar events to raise money so it is important to coordinate dates and types of events. The Charites Governor should be more than another person looking at oversight.
He commended Hospital at Home which is an outstanding initiative for the frail and elderly and he thanked all the staff involved in this and the League of Friends at Milford Hospital.
Jenny thanked Martin for his presentation and wished him well in his work as Charities Governor.
Jenny introduced Daniel Bailey Associate Director of Strategy RSCH
Daniel made the following presentation on the Royal Surrey NHS FT Clinical Strategy 2024-2029.
This is attached as an appendix to the minutes. Click here to see the Clinical Survey
The strategy starts on 1st April 2024.
Daniel was asked if RSCH will be affected by ICS in the budget? He said it is not always easy but lots of learning is going on.
Jenny Millar thanked Daniel Bailey
Any Other Business
Jacquie Robini said there had been a lot of troubled times over the last 20/25 years, especially the threatened closure of the hospital and later closure of the x-ray dept. The LofF fought ferociously and she is very positive about what is happening now. She said she was proud to be a part of it and wished all well now she is retiring.
Penny Rivers, Waverley Mayor, thanked JM for inviting everyone this afternoon. “I was here last year and everyone was still struggling in the shadow of COVID but we learnt neve to take the front-line care of the NHS, and each other, for granted. We live in times where we are going to have to shout for the future of the NHS and I am happy to shout with you.”
Jenny Millar thanked everyone for joining us and for their continuing support. She closed the meeting.