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. Ed Donald's report gives some indication of the stresses and pressures being felt at present at the RBH, showing concern about the financial viability of Critical Care Services and Urgent Care in the A&E department and associated unplanned admissions to the hospital. Ed Donald reported that provision was currently continuing under a Heads of Terms Agreement signed on 28th March 2013 with the CCGs. In the meantime executive-level meetings between the CCGs and the RBHFT have continued. According to Ed Donald, quality issues are largely now agreed and the key areas of focus in the discussions are the Activity, Financial and Business rules. Particular areas of focus were the funding of Critical Care Services and the funding and management arrangements for the expected growth in emergency activity (A&E attendances and unplanned admissions) in 2013/14 and the investment by the Commissioners of the penalty deductions under the national payment-by-results tariff rules. (Under these rules the hospital receives only 30% of the appropriate fee for patients treated in excess of the number for 2008-9 and no fee for patients re-admitted within 30 days of emergency admission.) Also under discussion was the number of follow-up outpatient appointments paid for as part of a given treatment. Ed Donald stressed that one of his priorities was to see the hospital get paid in full for the work it did. So he wanted to see those penalties returning to the hospital as investment in expanded capacity. The Council of Governors will hear a further report at their next meeting in July.

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. Their source is a whistle-blowing GP who worked for the company, which currently runs no services in West Berkshire. Harmoni operations in adjacent areas include the East Hampshire GP OOH service, the Bucks Urgent Care OOH service, the Surrey GP OOH service and the Wiltshire 111 service.

This conference, held on 14 May 2013 and jointly organised by South Reading CCG and South Reading Patient Voice, hosted 140 delegates and was judged a real success. It received a mention on BBC South TV News. ... Speakers from South Reading CCG, Berkshire Healthcare NHS, the University of Reading, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Surrey County Council, and South Reading Patient Voice aimed to inform, identify gaps in services, share best practice and provide a showcase for services. See the South Reading CCG for a more detailed account of the conference.

The NHS England board meeting on 3 May 2013 endorsed proposals for an external review of the model used to roll out the NHS 111 service. The 111 service replaces both NHS Direct and the separate specific telephone numbers needed to call out-of-hours GP services. Official advice is that "you should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help but it's not a life-threatening situation." This, of course, begs the question of the caller's ability to decide reliably when an urgent situation is life threatening. The decision to review follows reports of at least 22 serious untoward incidents (SUIs), including 2 deaths, since the soft launch of 111. The press release from NHS England following their board meeting did not mention these SUIs nor the deaths, but sought to reassure patients that "a good 111 service is now operating in most of the country." The Berkshire version of NHS 111 is due to go live later in May. It will be run by the South Central Ambulance Service.

After the debate and vote in the House of Lords on 24th April 2013 and the ending of the session of Parliament the new NHS Procurement Regulations have passed into law. The regulations govern how public authorities like Clinical Commissioning Groups may lawfully arrange for services to be provided. The regulations have been highly contentious, with the Government asserting that they do not change the existing position, allows bundling of services, and puts the interests of patients first, while opponents including the BMA and several medical charities have claimed that they open the door to widespread privatisation by the back door, and, at the least spread confusion and invite companies to challenge CCG decisions in the courts. The latest set of regulations, now passed, gives the NHS competition regulator, Monitor, the power to annul contracts but not to force CCGs to put services out to tender. Monitor is to finally simplify (or complicate) the situation by putting out a set of case studies intended to guide CCGs in their commissioning work.

You can now register with this website. Once your registration has been approved, you can login to add comments to most pages. Here is the link to register Here is the link to login after you have been registered Looking forward to seeing your comments!

The Board of the South Reading CCG meets in public for the first time on Wednesday 19th June at 12:30pm at the Museum of English Rural Life, Redlands Road, Reading RG1 1EX You, as a member of the public will be welcome to attend the meeting. You will hear summaries of useful reports on commissioned health care in the South Reading CCG area, including the Patient Experience and Patient Safety reports, the financial report, safeguarding report, Commissioning Outcomes report and other matters. There will be an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions towards the end of the meeting. 
  
If you intend to be there as a member of the public please notify the support team, either by email to ppiteam.berkshire@nhs.net or by telephoning 0118 982 2709

From the 15th May the way to access out-of-hours GP service in South Reading CCG area will be to phone 111 - the new NHS non-emergency number. This is a nationally designed service which will cover all non-emergency calls. 999 continues for emergency calls. The new 111 number is intended to take over completely from NHS Direct in South Reading by mid-June. Other parts of Berkshire West are on the same timetable. The new 111 service is being delivered in South Reading by the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust who run the ambulances. The 111 service has had severe teething problems in some areas, but South Central Ambulance Trust have been running it successfully in Hampshire for many months, and our local service is being introduced cautiously and in a phased approach. Initially 111 will be just to replace phoning your GP surgery for out-of-hours service. By mid-June 111 should have replaced NHS Direct as well. The new service is intended to bring together all non-emergency assistance outside your GP surgery. It will not be staffed exclusively by clinically trained staff - initially your call will be answered by staff who have been extensively trained for the particular job of answering 111 calls. One reason for the changeover from NHS Direct will have been to save expenditure, but other reasons are to simplify access and unite the non-emergency services and provide a uniform, national service. Reading Post has recently reported that the much-delayed replacement service for NHS Direct and out-of-hours, the new non-emergency 111 service, will be phased in across Berkshire between mid-May and the end of June.Initially the service will just replace existing out-of-hours access, first in Berkshire East, then in Berkshire West.