NHS England has published its 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance. On the key issues of employee retention it has little to offer: "Improve retention and staff attendance through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise". And what does the NHS People Promise say? "We are recognised and appreciated whether a simple thank you for our day-to-day work, or formal recognition for our dedication, such as every decade of service to the NHS. We have a fair salary, competitive pension, and an attractive package of extended benefits, whatever our role.

The BOB Integrated Care Board will meet in public from 10am to 1pm on Tuesday, 17th January 2023 at a venue still to be specified. The meeting can be observed online by registering in advance via the link on this page . Public questions can be submitted in advance to bobicb.enquiries@nhs.net . Click on this link to attend the meeting.

Reading again has an Urgent Care Centre, open from 8am to 8pm every day at the doctor's practice on the first floor of Broad Street Mall. The Urgent Care Centre will see people with urgent conditions. It asserts that it does not treat injuries - perhaps because it has no X-ray facilties. Anyone with and injury or a life-threatening condition should attend the Royal Berkshire Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department. The centre is commissioned to offer 100 appointments per day over an eighteen month pilot period.

Reading Health and Wellbeing Board meets at 2pm on Friday 20th January 2023. You can attend the meeting online or in person. Please contact Nicky.Simpson@reading.gov.uk for remote attendance details or to submit questions. Public questions should be submitted a couple of weeks before to allow for answers to be prepared. Papers for the meeting will be available about 1 week beforehand.

The BOB integrated care system is run by its NHS Integrated Care Board but its strategy is set by a wider partnership - the BOB Integrated Care Partnership, bringing together the NHS, local authorities, voluntary and charitable organisations and others. The Integrated Care Partnership Board is now consulting on its strategic priorities for the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West health and social care system. There will be public meetings in January 2023 (to be specified) as part of the consultation. The consultation ends on 29th January.