Constitution

 

1.      Name

  1. The name of the group shall be Friends of Shephall Health Centre.
  • Our Vision

We believe that healthcare should be more than just a visit to the Doctor, Nurse or other healthcare professional when you feel unwell

Our vision is to create a community hub where volunteers from our own community together with healthcare and social care professionals, charities and private sector organisations can come together to enhance the health and wellbeing of the residents of Shephall.

  • Aims and Objectives
  • We aim to provide a range of services for the people of Shephall aimed at enhancing the wellness and wellbeing of the people of Shephall by: –
  • Providing information about local activities and support groups
  • Providing a meeting place for those who are socially isolated
  • Developing skills to enable access to the local job market and / or voluntary sector
  • Helping individuals adopt a more healthy lifestyle
  • Providing social events and intergenerational activities
  • Providing support for those with long term chronic illness
  • In order to achieve the Vision, Aims and Objectives, the Group will liaise with the doctors and other staff of the Practice and other persons or organisations concerned with healthcare, and will consult on service development and provisions and contribute to Practice decision making when requested by the Practice. 
  • The Group will work with the Practice staff to ensure continuous improvement of services and quality of care, provide a representative voice in the organisation of patient care and will support and help implement change, including providing assistance, where requested, to undertake patient surveys and, where appropriate, analyse the results and provide feedback to the Practice and their patients. 
  • The Group will promote the interests of the practice’s patients while paying heed to a policy of non-discrimination in terms of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity, and will at all times respect diversity and be committed to the principles contained within the Equality Act 2010. 
  • The Group may affiliate with other groups such as the National Association of Patient Participation Groups and/or other appropriate organisations if the members of the Group consider such affiliations would be beneficial to both Practice and patients.
  • The Practice will not be bound by any decisions made by the Group.

4.      Membership

  • Membership will be available without discrimination to anyone who applies to become a member provided they are aged 16 or over.
  • Members may resign at any time by notifying the Chair, Secretary or the Surgery’s Practice Manager.  Any member who fails to attend and does not send apologies to three consecutive meetings or who makes no attendance in one calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned and must reapply for Membership if they wish to continue. 
  • If the Chair or Secretary resigns part way through the year, a quorum of the Group shall at the next meeting elect a replacement Chair or Secretary to remain in office until the AGM.

5.      Officers and Elections

  • The Group shall have three Officers, namely a Chair, a Secretary and a Treasurer all of whom shall resign at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), resignations to take effect at the end of calendar year. 
  • At the AGM, the Group may elect new Officers who will commence their duties on January 1st of the following year.  Existing Officers may stand for re-election.
  • If there is more than one volunteer for either post, an election shall be held at the AGM by secret ballot.  In the event of a tie, the Chair of that meeting shall have the casting vote. 
  • If there are no volunteers for one or more of the posts, the Group may appoint from amongst their numbers a temporary Chair, Secretary and or Treasurer.

 

6.      Meetings

  • Meetings will be held on the premises of, in the full knowledge of, and with the approval of the Health Centre. 
  • The Group shall endeavour to meet at least six times a year and shall endeavour to decide on the date and time of the next meeting at each meeting. 
  • Formal notice of each meeting, together with a copy of the minutes of the previous meeting and an agenda, will where possible be distributed to Members within at least a week of the date of the next meeting. 
  • Items to be included in the agenda should be submitted to the Secretary at least one week before the date of the meeting. 
  • The Chair and Secretary will agree the agenda before each meeting.  Representatives of the Surgery’s medical and administrative teams will be invited to each meeting.  The Practice may request through the Chair for additional Practice Staff to attend any meetings.
  • Each meeting will be chaired by the Chair or, in his/her absence, by a member present who is elected as temporary Chair for the duration of the meeting. 
  • Each meeting must be attended by a quorum of at least 5 (five) Members and changes to the Constitution must be voted on and approved by a quorate meeting. 
  • Decisions will be made by simple majority vote of those Group Members present.  In the event of a tie, the Chair of that meeting shall have the casting vote.

7.      Minutes

  • The Secretary will enter a record of the proceedings, resolutions and suggestions of the meeting and shall write up the minutes as soon as practical after the meeting.
  • The Chair will have first draft of the minutes for approval and, once approved, the Secretary will forward them to Members.

8.      Annual General Meeting

  • An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held once a year, at the final planned meeting of the calendar year.  The meeting will proceed as would a normal meeting, but one of the agenda items will be Changes to the Constitution, and another will be Election of Officers. 
  • Details of proposed changes to the Constitution shall be sent out with the previous Minutes and the Agenda.
  • In the event of a tied vote on any issue, the Chair of that meeting shall have a casting vote. 

9.      Extraordinary General Meeting

  • An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be held if three or more Members request it in writing, stating their reasons to the Chair or Secretary. 
  • If there are less than three Members remaining, an EGM may be called by one of the remaining Members. 
  • The meeting must then take place within 28 days of said request, but unless there is a valid reason for less notice, Members must be given 14 days’ notice of the date, time and venue of such a meeting and the reason for it being called.  Inter alia examples of a valid reason for an EGM being called are urgent changes to the Constitution, to the Practice, or the dissolution of the Group.

10. Dissolution of the Group

  1. The Group may be dissolved by resolution at an Extraordinary General Meeting provided two thirds of the attending Members agree the motion.
  1. If the Group is dissolved, the Chair and Secretary of the Group must retain any records, including those of the final EGM, for a minimum of two years, and the same records must be lodged with the Practice.