2025-09-30-accounts

The Friends of Saxonbury House Surgery CIO

(Registered Charity No. 1206515)

Saxonbury House, Croft Road, Crowborough, TN6 1DL

Dear Member,

Annual General Meeting at 7pm on Thursday 20 November 2025 at Saxonbury House

You are invited to attend the Friends’ Annual General Meeting. The agenda will be:-

1. Apologies for Absence

1. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 12 December 2024 – available on the evening

2. Report from the Doctors

3. Annual Report of the Charity Trustees from the Chair

4. Presentation and acceptance of the annual accounts 2024-25

5. Election of Trustees (see below)

6. Any other business

The meeting should last for about an hour.

I attach a copy of the annual report and summary of accounts.

If you wish to nominate anyone to be a Trustee, please notify me in writing (c/o the Surgery or by email to [e-mail]) by 6 November.

Finally, may I thank you for your continued support and encourage you to attend the meeting. It is important that we have a quorum so that the meeting can proceed.

Yours

Nigel Bullock (Chair)

Annual Report of the Executive Committee for the year ending 30 September 2025

My previous Chairman’s report for the year ending September 2024 focused heavily upon the structural changes for the Friends of Saxonbury House (FOSH) made necessary due to our becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) My report for the year ending September 2025 continues with this change theme but addresses Saxonbury Practice change and FOSH’s supporting role to help promote and support these changes.

Two important changes occurred during the last year both of which have had important impacts for the Surgery and its patients.

The first of these was the introduction of an e-consult system from January 2025 with the associated doctor led triage appointment process and availability constraints due to each practitioner only having 27 slots available each day. Initially, this arrangement was met with little enthusiasm from patients, and in some cases verbal abuse and intimidation towards the Practice support staff, who were trying to make this new system operate to the best of their ability. This clearly resulted in stress for staff and practitioners alike. As the year has progressed lessons have been learned and the introduction of a “slow release “ system for appointments has reduced the number of complaints received per week quite considerably. Ian Gibson, the Practice Manager, took steps to ensure that he was able to fully support the staff implementing the e-consult system and undertook a Diploma course in Managing confrontational behaviour more effectively. FOSH were more than pleased to fund the examination fee for such an important step forward.

Clearly as time moves on the impact of the changes within the e-consult process that have been introduced will need to be closely evaluated. Currently we are heading towards the critical period of the year in terms of winter related illnesses and the increased demand this places on all surgeries in the country, not just Saxonbury House.

I mentioned intimidation earlier and one particularly concerning event resulted in the destruction of the reception security screen. There were obvious implications for staff and patients alike. As a result the security arrangements for the reception staff became a priority, and FOSH has been working closely with the Practice to investigate and fully fund an improved system. Once the final details have been established the funding implications will appear in next year’s report.

The second important change that occurred in May was the closing of the on-site Pharmacy when the owners moved to their existing premises at a location nearer the town centre. As a result the Practice looked towards possible use of the space but have opted to remain in their current footprint but develop the use of the lower ground floor to improve the patient experience. One of the exciting possibilities for this initiative could be the recruitment of two doctors who are in their final years of training (F2s as they are called) . This potentially could increase the number of available appointments per day by between 20-30. FOSH have been approached to help fund essential items for the lower ground and ground floor areas such as an additional crash cart/grab bag and magnetic display boards. Again an exciting opportunity to look forward to in 2026.

The FOSH Committee have been working hard all year and I must extend a huge thank you to each and every one of them particularly those members who have volunteered to take responsibility for the many different areas we have to cover. The work of FOSH is very extensive and includes a host of paperwork such as reviewing policies, meeting the demands of the Charity Commission, dealing with membership issues which includes the promotion of FOSH. Also constant communication with the surgery, dealing with requests and purchases as well as carrying out more practical tasks to assist the surgery come within the remit.

One of our founding members of FOSH, Robin Steatfield has indicated that he no longer wishes to be a Trustee and I would like to extend a massive thank you to him for all his

wisdom and guidance in this role over the past years. He has expressed a willingness to remain on the committee which is good news.

Clearly, one of the principal aims of Friends of Saxonbury House is to support the practice financially where we can, and where NHS or other funding is not otherwise available. I am pleased to report that in the last financial year FOSH has made the following purchases for the Practice:

. 3 Blood Pressure monitors £4569.30

. A new Television and Information System for the waiting room £4614

. The examination fee for The Practice Manager’s Diploma £550

We are also involved in discussions to fund a replacement blood pressure monitoring machine for the waiting room. Inclusive of VAT the cost is £1,530 and this will appear on next year’s accounts.

As Trustees an important part of our role is to ensure that we get the best returns on our financial resources and this is where our meetings with the Practice Manager are so important. They help to direct planning for managing our accounts so that FOSH can respond to any requests within the terms of our withdrawal limitations. I am also pleased to report that we have received an additional sum of £2,480.15 from the executors of Miss Izzard’s will.

With the Practice developing the new initiatives mentioned above the FOSH Committee will continue to explore the concept of shared funding where this is seen as a way to ensure the best possible outcomes for both the Practice and its patients. Another important development to take forward into 2026 and beyond.

Continuing the financial aspects of my report I would like to highlight the following. Currently FOSH has only 154 members from a total of nearly 10,700 patients which is disappointing to say the least. We will be looking for ways to improve this number over the coming months and years and working hard to promote the Gift Aid programme which currently only has 24 members. In order to sustain our financial support for the Practice we need to increase our membership and £10 per year can do so much good work. Membership forms are available at the reception desk and reminders are published on the TV monitor in the waiting room. I would like to thank the committee members who have been involved with this for their continuing hard work on the Gift Aid project, they are a determined team and would welcome as much support as possible.

Finally on the finance issue can I please extend a big thank you to two very important people working back stage so to speak. These are Matthew West who does a superb job as our book keeper and Colin Henderson who likewise does an excellent job of auditing our accounts. These two important jobs ensure that we comply with the Charity’s Commission’s financial guidelines.

We are always looking for help with various roles on our committee and should you like to know more about joining us please contact us through our email address. We are particularly interested in finding someone to take on the role of treasurer.

If you wish to nominate anyone to be a member of the Executive Committee please notify the Secretary, or the Chairman, Nigel Bullock, in writing c/o the Surgery.

Election of Trustees. The FoSH Constitution limits the number of trustees to ten. At present, there are nine:- Nigel Bullock, Susan Bullock, Lindsay Cole, Emer Murphy, Robin Streatfield, Anthony Wayte, Susan West, Martin Smith and John West. All the existing Trustees are happy to be re-appointed with the exception of Robin Streatfield. After the first year of being a CIO one third of the Trustees should be re-elected on an annual basis.

Last year it was proposed that the Trustees be elected as follows:- Emer Murphy, Martin Smith and Robin Streatfield for a term of one year; Lindsay Cole, Anthony Wayte and Susan West for a term of two years; Susan Bullock, Nigel Bullock and John West for a term of three years.

We look forward to seeing as many members as possible at the FoSH AGM at 7.00pm on the 20th November at the Surgery. One of the agenda items is a talk by Dr. Adam Bennion during which he will talk about the surgery’s future emphasis on prevention with the possible increase in more screening initiatives such as ECGs.

Nigel Bullock Chair of FoSH.

Frfend5 of Saxonbury House Surgery Expendliure Acc¢y>ntf(wthe yE¥rto 30 5eptembEr2025 KOME gJbKrtptl¢n5. &nkwS0rder￿h Donationsllt) Mernorf GittAld- HMRC Bank Interest Recdwd 2031 2730 147 2n4 430 2742 EXPENOITURÉ EtylkryDtforSJ Trnlnl 918a 550 2351 Genera 3782 E￿￿$11•frI1ollftCoMÈNtr Ewndityre -2433 -1552 FUND55TATMNT WZ5 anceblf30 September 2025 Excessof IncLxDe overExpendtture 96733 -2433 98286 .1552 Cth at Bank 33 Nlyl Bulo Swan W•61 D•t• Z? l io1z013 eXamIn￿the •rwiTrtlryJ rwds l M￿sA￿dththeabthtS$l true andprDper It•t•l￿t•f th•flnancl*l alla1￿ fry the Fderx15 af5•xoDLMJryHouse forthe perlod tho Coln F¢MA D•ta 211, 19 03 6