Free session for all unpaid carers arranged by Berkshire Carers and Talking Health. Learn to reduce stress and improve your mood. Bradbury Community Centre, Wokingham Methodist Church, Rose Street, Wokingham RG40 1XS, on Monday 11th May from 6pm to 8pm. To book a free place call 0800 988 5462 or email helpline@berkshirecarers.org.

Berkshire Carers are hosting a meeting on Thursday 14th May at the Oakwood Centre, Headley Road, Woodley, RG5 4JZ, from 2pm to 4.30pm. The key speaker will be Ruth Brennan from Carers Trust. She will talk about sharing information while recognising the need for patient confidentiality. To book your free place, please call 0800 9885462 or email by Monday 4th May.

The Reading Walks Annual Walking Forum has its annual meeting from 10am - 12noon on Friday 24th April in the Waterhouse Chamber of the Town Hall. Refreshements will be available to stimulate new ideas and fresh enthusiasm. Please see the attached document.

The Reading Borough Council Health and Wellbeing Board will meet at 2pm on Friday 17th April 2015 in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre. For agenda and papers please see the committee page on the Reading Borough Council web site.

We will be meeting between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 25th March 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Kate Turner on the Hospital At Home programme which attempts to move more care into home and the community, as well as a consultation on this year's Beat the Streets and news and discussion about health care locally.

"The Future of Primary Care" will be the main topic of the evening when we meet between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 29th April 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Nicola Jones, Berkshire West Federation Primary Care Transformation Manager, on the Future of Primary Care as well as discussion of local health care.

It is well known that patients are waiting longer to get a GP appointment and that without action the situation will get worse as a generation of GPs retires - two surgeries in in North and West Reading have already had to find new service providers as GPs retired and could not be replaced. Professional bodies have been looking at the role that pharmacists could play in General Practice. The Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have put out a joint announcement (see attached document). There is an over-supply of pharmacists - who are in any case cheaper to employ than GPs. Qualified pharmacists can become "prescribing pharmacists" by taking an additional course with a minimum of 26 days teaching and 12 days monitored learning in a practice environment (see attached document). Roles suggested for prescribing pharmacists in GP practices are to conduct medicines reviews for patients with long term conditions and review the management of medicines in the practice. A particular challenge is to arrange this in small practices such as we have in South Reading. The very great differences between the training of pharmacists and GPs are in the time that GPs spend with patients working on diagnostic and treatment skills. It would not be appropriate for pharmacists to be conducting primary diagnoses of patients. It is customary to recommend consultation with a pharmacist for "minor ailments". But what if one doesn't know in the first place just what ails one? A clear delineation of the role of the pharmacist in the GP practice is surely essential if we are not to descend to a second class GP service.

The BBC has reported that the NHS in England missed the target of treating 85% of cancer patients within 2 months (62 days) for all 4 quarters of 2014. Analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support has shown that the UK is about 10 years behind leading European nations in terms of cancer five-year survival rates. A key problem is that many patients typically present llater than elsewhere. This may be due to the operation of our otherwise efficient and effective GP gatekeeper system. A GP sees on average 8 cancer patients per year. As other causes of death decline cancer is becoming a more prevalent condition and early diagnosis and effective treatment is becoming ever more urgent.

A new campaigning group is to be set up for carers in mental health other than dementia. The group will be a sub-group of Berkshire Carers Support Group. The group will help carers find resources, empower themselves and promote a a joined-up mental/physical health and social care system that responds to their needs, wants and values. If interesed please contact: Dr Sofija Opacic tel: 07966 369579 For more details see the attached flyer.

We will be meeting between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 25th February 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Karen Grannum, South Reading NHS CCG Manager on the planning for healthcare for South Reading for 2015/16. as well as further news and discussion about health care locally.