All GPs now have direct access to cancer diagnostic scans, saving an intermediate referral to a hospital consultant. NHS England says, "Under the scheme, around 67,000 people who are usually diagnosed with cancer through non-urgent testing will now be eligible for fast-tracking and have a better chance of their disease being picked up at an earlier stage."

The BOB Interated Care Board meets in public from 10am to 1pm on Wed 15th November 2022. The meeting can be live streamed by clicking here .

The BOB Integrated Care Board will meet in public at 10am on Tuesday, 17th January 2023.

South Reading Patient Voice Annual General Meeting will take place in the Main Hall at RISC - 35-39, London Street, RG1 4PS at 6pm on Wednesday, 16th November 2022. Members are asked to attend in person if possible as it is felt that a better discussion communication will result. Refreshments will be served. There is plenty of room in the Main Hall for social distancing. Constitutional amendments should be submitted by 5pm on Tuesday, 15th November so that a display can be prepared. Our constitution can be found here: click here for constitution. Please consider standinng for an office of the group - change can bring renewwal. We have prepared a questionnaire whose results could help to improve the group - please click and fill it in by Tuesday 15th November if possible.

John Burn-Murdoch, writing in the Financial Times on 4th November 2022 (behind paywall) has shown that chronic illness has increased radically since the pandemic with almost 500,000 more people in the economically active age range of 16-64 not in the work force as a result. He proposes that long waiting lists are now a significant factor keeping some of them out. Of the various conditions Mental Health problems are most likely to keep people out of the work force permanently. The number of people with unmet medical need has risen sharply. He notes, "Beginning shortly before the pandemic but then accelerating, there has been a steep climb in rates of chronic ill health among the long-term workless. Today there are half a million more working-age people in the UK with impairing health conditions than if pre-pandemic trends had continued, and 90 per cent of them are people who have not worked in several years." He concludes, "The international perspective is striking. Over the past year, one in six UK adults has had a pressing need for medical examination or treatment and been unable to get access, with almost half of these cases due to the length of waiting lists, according to data from YouGov and Eurostat. This is the highest figure out of 36 European countries and almost triple the EU average. With a lengthy recession looming and spending cuts on the agenda, the future for Britains peripheral class looks bleak, but bringing them back into the fold should be the countrys top priority."

Dr Kit Yates of Bath University, and member of Independent SAGE gives an account of the present state of the NHS..

South Reading Patient Voice meets in person and online on Wednesday, 19th October 2022 at 6pm., in Meeting Room 1, RISC, 35-39, London Street RG1 4PS and online via Zoom. Members will discuss the latest GP patient survey, the last meeting of the Reading Health and Wellbeing Board, and news of local PPGs and providers. Please see the attached agenda and minutes of last meeting.

The annual history symposium of the Berkshire Medical Heritage Centre takes place on Saturday 19th November in the Old Library at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. There is a charge of 5 to attendees. Please see the attached document for booking and joining ///details. The programme is as follows: 9.35 Dr Jamieson Hurry and Reading Abbey Malcolm Summers 10.15 Are There No Workhouses - Are There No Prisons?

South Reading Patient Voice meets at 6pm on Monday 3rd October at 59, Alexandra Road or online via Zoom to hear Andrew Haydon, staff governor at the Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust talk about staff issues in the NHS. Use this link to join the meeting - no passcode.

The BOB Integrated Care Board will meet at 10.00 - 13.00 on Tuesday 27th September 2022. Papers will be available a week before the meeting. Questions relating to the agenda should be sent in advance to bobicb.enquiries@nhs.net .