The Reading Borough Health and Wellbeing Board meets in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices, Bridge Street, at 2pm on Friday, 24th March 2017. Topics to be addressed include the BOB STP, the Berkshire Suicide Prevention Strategy, the Connected Care strategy and aspects of Public Health. Click here for the agenda. Click here for the full papers for the meeting.

South Reading Patient Voice will meet at 6pm on Wednesday, 29 th March 2017 at RCLC, 94, London Street RG1 4SJ to hear how patient records will become accessible from all treatment sites through the Connected Care programme from Project Manager John Devine. We will also hear news from Patient Participation Groups around the CCG area and from Healtwatch Reading.

We understand that the two practices at Milman Road are likely to merge. Melrose Surgery is also likely to merge with London Road Surgery, followed by closure of London Road Surgery - patients of London Road Surgery may be able to choose whether to transfer to Melrose Surgery, or Kennet, Pembroke or Eldon Road practices.

GP surgeries in Reading are working in groups to provide larger units which can offer additional treatments and services and extended hours. University Medical Group already unites the Northcourt Avenue and Whitley Villa surgeries. South Reading and Shinfield Practice has been proposed to join the group. All the other surgeries in the South Reading CCG area are organised into the South Reading Alliance. This contains three clusters of practices. Each cluster will make arrangements for extended hours and additional services.

Tilehurst Cluster

• Tilehurst Village
• Westwood Road
• Overdown Road
• Grovelands

Whitley Cluster

• Milman Road (Kumar)
• Milman Road (Mittal)
• Longbarn Lane
• Chancellor House
• Christchurch Surgery
• Whitley Wood Lane

Central Cluster

The central cluster has three groups of surgeries.

A Group

• Pembroke Surgery
• Pembroke Eldon Square
• Kennet Surgery

B Group

• Melrose Surgery
• Eldon Road Surgery

C Group

• Reading Walk-In Centre
• Russell Street Surgery
• Coley Park Surgery
• Burghfield Surgery
• Abbey Medical Centre
• Chatham Street Surgery
• London Street Surgery

The practices of the South Reading Alliance have the following areas of focus for 2017/18.

1. Reducing variation amongst member practices and supporting practices in difficulty.
2. Reviewing their estates strategy
3. Exploring innovative business/restructuring opportunities
   1. Clinical research in primary care
   2. Different contractual models e.g. MCP contract
   3. Managing urgent and planned care differently
   4. Shared indemnity cover
4. Improved collaborative working
   1. Supporting CCG with IT interoperability pilot systems
   2. Shared workforce: clinical pharmacist role to be shared across 2 clusters
   3. Work with CCG to align community health and social care around clusters

The new Integrated Care System for the western part of Berkshire, under chair Luke March, has produced a draft strategy for the NHS in western Berkshire. The document is available below. The western Berkshire Accountable Care System (ACS) is a coordinating body, formed by Memorandum of Understanding, between the main NHS healthcare providers, Royal Berkshire Hospital and Berkshire Healthcare and the Clinical Commissioning Groups for the constituent areas. It is expected that local authorities, with their health and caring responsibilities will also be associated with the The ICS is planning to see primary care organised into larger "hubs" of practices, around which extended community services can be organised. The frailest part of the population will be offered more services in the community to avoid their reaching a crisis demanding emergency care. Some outpatient treatment will move from hospital to the hubs. Prevention of ill-health will be supported. Mental health services will be expanded and made more accessible. Treatment pathways are to be made more efficient as the separate providers integrate their services.

BBC Radio Berkshire will host the Brighter Berkshire Year of Mental Health campaign 2017 on Monday 20th February 11am-1pm, with a programme featuring Mental Health First Aid. Look out for these monthly broadcasts. Find out more about the Brighter Berkshire campaign. Find out more about the Brighter Berkshire campaign on Twitter. Sign up to the Brighter Berkshire mailing list

The clinical commissioners for South Reading and North and West Reading will be presenting their plans at a public meeting on Thursday 9th March 2017 from 10.30am to 12.30pm in the Concert Hall in Reading Town Hall. To attend the meeting please reserve your place using this link. The events includes:

• A presentation on the challenges the NHS faces locally and our innovative plans to tackle them.
• Q and A session on these plans, with local NHS officials.
• "You said, we did" - Update on progress so far on the issues raised by the public around the NHS locally.

The Berkshire West Primary Care Commissioning Committee meets in public at Shaw House, Church Road, Newbury, RG14 2DR on 8th March from 1pm to 4.30pm. To attend register using this link (or by phone 0300 123 6264) by 12 noon on the 7th March. Papers will be available on the South Reading CCG primary care committee page. To submit a question, please email ppiteam.berkshirewest@nhs.net or telephone 0300 123 6264.

The Governing Body of South Reading CCG meets in public at 9.30-12,30 on Wednesday 1st March 2017 at the Museum of English Rural Life, Redlands Road, RG1 5EX. To attend use this link to register or phone 0300 123 6264 by 12 noon on the 28th February. Questions must be provided in advance - please email ppiteam.berkshirewest@nhs.net or phone to 0300123 6264.

The Guardian reported (2nd February 2017) that student applications to nursing courses had fallen by 23% this year. This is the first year that nursing students will not receive government busraries to cover fees and costs. Paradoxically, Government abandoned the bursaries partly to save money and partly to allow the number of students to increase. The applications from 18 year olds seem to have held up but those from older applicants have fallen drastically. This will mean less nurse.s qualifying in three years time. But in the meantime, since student nurses spend half their time in active placements this will mean progressively fewer staff on hospital wards from next year. In addition to these losses it is expected that recruitment from the EU will be down and unlikely to recover, given Brexit, pay restraint and a devalued pound sterling. The accumulation of these effects is likely to lead to a severe crisis and an emergency drive to recruit from outside Europe to jobs which we might well have been filled by British nurses had we maintained the numbers in training.