Reading Borough Council is consulating the public on the implementation of the new Care Act. The Act sets uniform, national standards for assessing need and gives new rights to those needing care and to their carers. We hope to have a talk and discussion about aspects of the Care Act at our meeting on 28th January.

A workshop primarily for users of mental health services and their carers, but also for voluntary organisations in this field will be held at Reading Town Hall between 10am and 3pm on Tuesday, 2nd December. Reading Borough, Reading's two Clinical Commissioning Groups and Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust are sponsoring this free event which will contribute to planning future Mental Health Services in Reading. Please see the workshop's website page for details of how to book your place.

Here are a some links to interesting videos and a very clear report about integrated care for frail, elderly patients. Professor David Oliver, consultant at Royal Berkshire Hospital comments on a patient's experiences where very common failings in care took place - see the video - produced under an initiative of Health Service Journal and Serco.

Circuit Lane surgery in Southcote lies outside the South Reading CCG area but developments there could be an indicator of future changes here. When the GP partners were unable to recruit a replacement for a partner who had announced their resignation, they found themselves unable to guarantee the safe continuation of the service and all resigned together. NHS England (Thames Valley) was left with the problem of how to push forward the GP service for around 11,000 patients from Southcote and areas further afield.