Co-Owners Council Meeting Minutes

Date: 20 January 2026
Time: 18:00–21:00

Chair: Louise Whyte, Employee Director
Apologies: Kelly Shore, Employee Director

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One-page summary

Governance

Ray Montague outlined the Employee Council’s formal role as a legally defined, elected body for major decisions such as changes to the Trust Deed. The Council discussed whether the Co-Owners Council could assume this authority. It was agreed to defer action.

Action: Revisit the discussion on Employee Council authority in future.

Practice Services / Primary Care Network (PCN) update

The PCN became operational in October 2025 (CKMP, BMC, HHS) to reduce health inequalities and strengthen community partnerships. Two wellbeing worker roles are funded long-term. BrisDoc’s PCN is developing well, with BMC’s access model highlighted as best practice.

Action: Share PCN updates across BrisDoc.

Supporting co-owners in financial difficulty

Options discussed included a central pantry, vouchers, payroll support, and Community Fund use.

• Develop proposals via Community Fund
• Produce a comprehensive support plan
• Communicate available support

Employee Ownership conference

Louise attended the Employee Ownership conference.

• Explore representative training
• Review the Team Brief. Consider a Co-Owner Charter and Co-Owner champions
• Embed co-ownership in senior leadership agendas
• Representatives to register for Employee Ownership Association updates

Social events

Planning for the 2026 summer event is underway. A proposal was raised to separate informal social groups from BrisDoc-wide events and encourage local activities.

• Establish a BrisDoc-wide events group
• Support local, site-based social groups

Workforce updates

Sickness rose to 6.5% by December 2025. Mental health and wellbeing conversations remain a priority. Updates on “Being Prepared” bonus reform and the Home Working policy were shared.

• Monitor sickness trends
• Finalise and communicate the Home Working policy

Rep voting and close

Nominations for approximately five representative roles are expected to open soon. Thanks were extended to outgoing Council members.

Deferred to 11 March 2026: Rep groups, Co-Owner benefits, Co-Owner awards, volunteering update.

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Actions at a glance

Area	Action	Owner(s)
Governance	Revisit discussion on Employee Council authority.	Co-Owners Council
PCN update	Share PCN updates with the wider BrisDoc community.	DD
Financial support	Discuss proposals for financial support via Community Fund.	TC, KS, MH, JB
Financial support	Develop a comprehensive plan for supporting co-owners in financial difficulty and share with Council, then Board.	LW, MD, MoK, AM, KS
Financial support	Create a Radar communication to raise awareness of available support.	AM
Employee ownership	Explore training for co-owner representatives.	LW, KS, MoK, MD
Employee ownership	Discuss Team Brief at next Council meeting.	LW, KS, JP
Employee ownership	Discuss Employee Charter and champions at next meeting.	LW, KS
Leadership	Include co-ownership on Extended Leadership Team and Strategic Leadership Team agendas.	KC
Employee ownership	Reps to register for Employee Ownership Association newsletter updates.	All reps
Social / events	Form a social group to organise BrisDoc-wide events.	CB, KC
Social / events	Liaise with managers. Support local site-based social groups to form for local events.	LW, KS
Sickness	Continue monitoring sickness data and discussing with managers.	MD
Home working	Finalise and communicate the new Home Working policy.	MD

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Full minutes

Employee Council – Ray Montague, BrisDoc Chair

• Ray discussed the Employee Council as described in the Trust Deed and its relationship to the Co-Owners Council.
• The Co-Owners Council evolved organically from the original staff council, while the “Employee Council” is a formal elected body defined in the Trust Deed for high-level decisions, including changes to the Trust Deed.
• The Employee Council requires a maximum of nine elected co-owners and employee directors, has not yet been “stood up”, and may never be needed.
• Discussion focused on whether the Co-Owners Council could adopt the authority of the Employee Council now that it has an electoral process, and the complexity of holding such elections.
• Mike Bevan (Independent Trustee) suggested putting this matter on the back burner, as there are no pressing issues on the horizon.

Actions

• Revisit the discussion on Employee Council and its authority in the future.

Practice Services update – Diane Douglas, Head of Practice Services

• Diane shared an update, including that the Primary Care Network (PCN) became operational in October 2025.
• The PCN involves collaboration between CKMP, BMC, and HHS, with a focus on health inequalities and mobilisation of contracts providing 15 years of funding for two community wellbeing workers.
• The Integrated Care Board (ICB), Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE), and Bristol City Council will be involved in recruiting wellbeing workers at CKMP.
• PCN goals discussed: reducing inequalities, improving access and continuity, strengthening community resilience and partnerships.
• It was suggested that PCN progress should be shared beyond Practice Services with the wider BrisDoc community.
• PCN movement has been slow nationally. BrisDoc is at an early stage but collaboration is strong.
• Stakeholder meetings were held the previous year, with an open invitation to attend.
• The BMC access model was highlighted as outstanding. Discussion continued on replicating it at CKMP while learning from CKMP’s continuity of care model.

Actions

• DD: Share PCN updates with the wider BrisDoc community.

Financial difficulty support for co-owners – Louise Whyte, Employee Director

• Louise raised a scenario where a co-owner faced financial difficulties and had no money for lunch for a number of days.
• Co-owners had been asked to share views on how BrisDoc could best support co-owners facing financial difficulty.
• Options discussed included: a central pantry (toiletries, tinned food), vouchers, anonymous voucher access via email, payroll access to accrued wages.
• The role of the Community Fund in supporting co-owners was discussed, including donating to foodbanks.
• The need for a clear policy and clear communications about financial support was highlighted.

Actions

• TC, KS, MH, JB: Discuss the proposal for financial support for co-owners with the Community Fund.
• LW, MD, MoK, AM, KS: Develop a comprehensive plan for supporting co-owners in financial difficulty and share with the Council, followed by the BrisDoc Board.
• AM: Create a Radar communication to raise awareness about the support available.

Employee Ownership conference (November 2025) – Louise Whyte, Employee Director

Louise shared learning and ideas from the conference, including:

• Supporting reps and training
• Team Brief and beyond
• Achievement badges
• Employee champions
• Employee Charter
• Bragging better
• Register reps on EOT website

Actions

• LW, KS, MoK, MD: Explore training for co-owner representatives.
• LW, KS, JP: Discuss Team Brief at next Council meeting.
• LW, KS: Discuss Employee Charter and champions at next meeting.
• KC: Ensure co-ownership is included on the agenda for Extended Leadership Team and Strategic Leadership Team meetings.
• Reps: Register for the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) newsletter via the EOA website (bottom of the page: “add me to your newsletter”).

Summer party / social group – Corinna Bryant and Kath Clifton, Executive Assistants

• The social group that usually organises the summer party had gone quiet towards the end of the previous year.
• Kath and Corinna were tasked with organising the 2026 event.
• A survey was sent to all co-owners. 109 responses were received.
• Preferred day: Saturday. Preferred time: evening/night.
• Next steps: find a date and confirm a venue.
• A proposal was discussed: two groups (an informal social group and an events group). The Council was asked to consider this.

Actions

• CB, KC: Form a social group to organise BrisDoc-wide events.
• LW, KS: Liaise with managers. Support social groups to form at main sites for more local events.

Sickness data – Mike Duncan, Director of People

• Mike presented 2025 sickness data.
• Overall sickness rate rose to 6.5% in December 2025.
• Long-term sickness: 3.6%. Short-term sickness: 2.9%.
• Need to continue conversations around mental health and anxiety.

Actions

• MD: Continue monitoring sickness data and discussing it with managers.

Being Prepared bonus – Mike Duncan, Director of People

• The current “Being Prepared” model was discussed, with a proposal to reform it to reward continuous compliance with key policy requirements.
• Proposed tiered model:
  • 100% bonus for full compliance
  • 75% for one lapse corrected within a month
  • 0% for two or more lapses
• Proposed “grace and recovery allowance”: one instance per year of up to 30 days for authorised leave, sickness, or system failure.
• Planned launch: 1 April 2026, with a transition year and full launch by December 2026.

Home Working – Mike Duncan, Director of People

• Inconsistencies were highlighted in how home working has been applied across teams.
• A new policy is being drafted. It will clarify there is no automatic entitlement to home working.
• Managers will be required to provide reasons for declining home working requests.

Actions

• MD: Finalise and communicate the new Home Working policy.

Rep voting and close

Kelly Shore was not present to lead this discussion. Louise advised that nominations for approximately five positions are expected to open within the next week.

Thanks and recognition
Thanks to Ollie Crandon, Traci Clutterbuck, Dixine Douis, Sarah Palmer and Donna Parkin for their dedication and valuable contributions to the Council. Appreciation was extended to Jaymee Braydy, who has supported the Council and taken minutes since its inception. Jaymee will be leaving BrisDoc in February and will be greatly missed.

Deferred to the next meeting (11 March 2026)

• Rep groups
• Co-owner benefits
• Co-owner awards
• Volunteering update