Present:                        Charlie Stuart-Buttle (chair), Mark Caulfield, Meg Disberry, Dai Evans, Maggie Falshaw, Chris Frith, Mary Hawking, Sara Hornibrook, Alison Hutton, Julie Jones, Tom Kerr, Geoff Schrecker, Hasib Ur-Rub, Mark Walton and Janet Wright   

In attendance:          Carol Simpson (minute taker)

1.       Apologies      None

2.         Minutes of last Annual General Meeting

The Minutes of the last AGM were agreed as a true record.

Matters arising:-

None

3.         Chairman’s Report (Charlie Stuart-Buttle)

Membership of the NUG had been decreasing year on year and, with it, revenue.  The Committee are actively seeking ways to increase membership and reduce costs.  ThinkM, marketing and research consultants, have been engaged to help us undertake a review of our services and their report is due at the end of November.  In terms of the NUG Office, two full time staff have been made redundant.  In June, we held a successful one day conference in Glasgow.  Our core activities have included: representing EMIS users on a number of different bodies, including UK Terminology Centre GP Forum; arguing successfully in forums such as GPSoC for the ESCROW

Agreement; meeting regularly with EMIS in order to build good clear links with them, and attempting to regain some of the members we have lost in the last couple of years and at the same time recruit new members to the NUG. 

4.         Treasurer’s Report (Tom Kerr)

Detailed accounts for the year to 31^st December 2009 are available to members on request.  The Treasurer pointed out that the accounts show a surplus of £20,000; in addition the NUG holds reserves of £100,000 in investment holdings and there is a contingency reserve of £60,000.  The Charity Commission expect us to utilise our funds to the benefit of our members and at our Strategy Meeting in November we will be discussing how to make the best use of those investment funds.  The small surplus of £20,000 must be viewed in the light of a worrying decline in membership and conference income.    Subscription income increased by £1,500 to £178,735 due to the £10 per member increase, however, conference income fell by £35,790 to £186,970.  The office staff moved to smaller premises which saw a reduction in rent of just over £3,000.  The message is we are very conscious of our cash flow and costs and we are seeking to drive these down and be as efficient as possible.  It was proposed to re-appoint Dodd and Co. as accountants and auditors and this was seconded by Dai Evans and approved by the members. 

Questions from the floor:-

Q.        With regards to costs versus income for the year – were costs greater         or was income?

A.        We made £20,000 more than we expected over the year.  Indications         are that we will not be in that position by the end of next year.

Q.        Last year income from the Conference dropped from that of the       previous year.  What are the indications for income from this year’s Conference?

A.        Indications are that income will drop further from this year’s Conference.

Q.        How many members are there and how many practices are EMIS   users?

A.        Membership has gone down from 2,000 to 1,700.  Approximately one-       third of all practices are EMIS users.

Q.        Is there an opportunity to get those practices/PCTs who are migrating         to EMIS Web to join the NUG?

A.        This is something we are already looking at.

5.         Secretary’s Report (Julie Jones)

The Secretary explained that a review of the Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association is being undertaken to ensure that they both accurately reflect how the NUG operates.  These documents will be uploaded on the website.

We are also undertaking a review of the membership, i.e. targeting potential members who may not be in the loop, for example, locums not linked to any particular practice. 

Questions from the floor:

Q.         Perhaps GP Commissioning Groups might be interested in joining

A.        GP District Nurses who are using EMIS - we have to take the decision       about how we expand the membership to serve both ourselves and the       wider membership and promote the use of EMIS as we move into a     new era. 

Q.        To what degree do you feel EMIS is subject to the influence of the NUG?   

A.        It’s a difficult area because the EMIS focus at the moment is on EMIS        Web. 

            However the NUG committee meet regularly with EMIS to discuss our        input into developing what we think needs developing too.

Q.        Is there a role for this conference to have a session on what             developments you would like to see from EMIS?

A.        We did think a session on that last year.  We could look at it again in          the future.

6.         Sub-Committee Reports

6.1       Magazine Report (Maggie Falshaw)

4 issues of the magazine are produced every year.  To address the issue of costs, we plan to keep the magazine to 28 pages.  Ideas and suggestions for content are required.  We need to widen the scope of the articles, in turn, widening the appeal of the magazine.   Articles have been included by not only GPs but also Practice Managers, Health Visitors, Nurses etc. in an attempt to broaden the pool of authors as well as the content.    Authors are paid £200 for published articles and £50 for hints and tips.

6.2       Watchdog Report (Janet Wright)

The Watchdog Committee consists of Hasib Ur-Rub, Mark Walton and Janet Wright.  Its role is to pick up themes of issues affecting EMIS users, particularly with regards to support and communication and feed these back to EMIS; review user documentation before it goes onto the EMIS website (to make it more relevant) and review EU UI/Patch documentation prior to issue.  Issues are gleaned from EMIS list, emails to the NUG office/website, questionnaires and direct contact with other users which is fed back to EMIS via meetings with Andy Whitwam, EMIS director and Richard Wilson, Manager of Support, 3-4 times per year.  Examples of items resolved by the Watchdog Committee during the last year include audit trail issues, label trace issues, warning messages to prevent torrents of paper in path reports, when prescribing Methotrexate to advise the prescription of only one tablet strength.

Changes to the Watchdog team:  Both Janet and Hasib are standing down after 11 years service.  Significant achievements during that time include: automated telephone system, back-up tape validation, Failures?  Still communication issues.

Members were urged to continue to send items of significance via the NUG office.

6.3       Website Report (Mark Walton

The List and Forums are now back up and running on the website.  Tim Walter rescued us with a temporary list and has agreed to permanently host the various list and integrate them with the new forum software, now working well. All the lists, PCS for beginners and EMIS for beginners are active and running on the forum.

Questions from the floor:

Q.        Can the password system be made easier?

A.        Yes, this is being looked at as part of the website review.

The following suggestions were made:-

·         A repository of what questions and answers have been given over the year would be useful.

·         A “key word” facility to find items quickly would be useful.

7.         Any Other Business

            Nothing to report.

On behalf of the Committee and Members, the Chairman thanked Janet and Hasib for all their hard work on behalf of the Watchdog Committee; Lorraine Witherspoon, Group Manager, for the huge amount of work undertaken by her with regards to the office re-organisation and marketing/data review and also to Tom Kerr for his work as NUG Treasurer.

8.         Election of Committee Members

On a rotational basis, a third of the Committee have to retire, being Charlie Stuart-Buttle, Hasib Ur-Rub, Tom Kerr, Mark Walton and Janet Wright.  All five were re-elected unopposed.  Two further vacancies have occurred due to Bill Westwood and Ralph Sullivan stepping down.  It was proposed that Julie Jones and Mark Caulfield, as co-opted members, be re-elected into these two posts.

9.         Date and Time of next AGM

            Next year’s AGM will take place on Thursday, 15^th September 2011 at

            5.45 p.m. at the EMIS NUG Conference, Warwick University.

10.       Prize Draw

            5 raffle prizes were drawn from the hat and won by members attending the          AGM.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 6.30 p.m.