Guest Speaker
Paula Bond from Macmillan was unfortunately unable to attend this meeting due to the adverse weather conditions and train delays.  She will liaise with Rowland away from the meeting, but will hopefully be able to attend the March 2007 meeting.
In the absence of the guest speaker the group discussed the issues that they would like covered when Paula is able to attend.  The ideas were as follows:

It was discussed whether people found face-to-face support or telephone support ‘cold-calling’ more beneficial.  After some debate, it was agreed that all people are different and that it should be an individual choice.  It was agreed that any referrals sent to the support group from the GPs would be firstly sent to the Colorectal/Stoma Care Department for perusal from one of the Nurses so that they could be referred on appropriately.

Open Forum
Irrigation
Irrigation had been discussed at a previous meeting, and it was found that there was a large section dedicated to the subject in the recent ‘Tidings’ magazine.  If anybody would like to borrow a copy of this, please contact Rowland via the web site. The Colostomy Association who produce this magazine are now redeveloping their web site which is good news.

Infection Control
It was discussed that the alcohol gel hand dispensers have been removed from the Main Entrance of Yeovil Hospital and have now been placed at entrances to wards and departments.  Concerns were raised that perhaps the dispensers are not so obvious now and therefore are perhaps not being used as regularly as they should.  It was also felt that using the hand gel at the entrance to the hospital would remove any external infections when entering the building, and likewise would remove internal infection when leaving.  It was agreed that people who were concerned would write to the Infection Control department at the hospital to see if they could obtain a response regarding the benefits of moving the hand gels.

Membership to Bowel Cancer Support Group
One member asked whether stoma patients without colorectal cancer could attend the support group as there is no local group solely for stoma patients.  It was agreed that anyone could attend, as long as they were aware that the content of discussion would also cover cancer experiences.