At a recent meeting of the South Reading Patient Voice, members heard from Berkshire Healthcare manager Fiona Slevin-Brown, how Health and Social Care are improving their coordination by working together in three regions of the South Reading CCG area. This is part of a major drive to upgrade community care and reduce the number of emergency hospital admissions. The entirety of the South Reading CCG is divided into three parts. The first is Tilehurst, between the rivers Thames and kennet and facing towards the West.

The Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Groups have created a web site resource for local diabetes sufferers and those involved in their care. Why not have a look and let them know how you feel about it?

South Reading CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) together with the 3 other commissioning groups in Berkshire West are responsible for procuring acute medical services for the local population. The detailed contract between the CCGs and the RBHFT (one of the principal local providers) is well under way and is expected to be signed off by the end of June, according to Ed Donald, chief executive of the RBH Foundation Trust, speaking at a recent RBH Council of Governors public meeting.

South Reading GPs can now refer patients suffering from certain long term conditions to a new psychological service - "Talking Health". The aim is to provide support for those with Type 2 diabetes and with chronic lung disease (COPD). The service provides both one to one support and the opportunity to meet others with a similar condition to exchange experiences and techniques related to managing and overcoming the condition.

The Daily Mail and The Times report (13 May) that Harmoni, the private health-care provider with 100M contracts from the NHS, uses senior nurses to cover up to quarter of a million patients for their GP out-of-hours (OOH) services when they cannot recruit GPs to do the shifts.