Hi Bob,
there are always new patches created based on the regular product lifecycle resolving issues and introducing new features. I consider this a good thing. Maybe you have noticed that new patch bundles are released every 3 month and at least one additional set of standalone patches are released within that 3 month window to resolve serious issues found. The idea behind that is to reduce the amount of required hot fixes for a customer environment to an absolute minimum.
Regards,
Sebastian Koehler