Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the Mental health and Community Care NHS provider for Berkshire, holds it AGM at 2pm on Wednesday 28th September in the Recital Room, South Hill Park Ringmead, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7PA Please click here for information on getting to South Hill Park Please click here for information on disabled access in South Hill Park 

Reading Health and Wellbeing Board will meet at 2pm in the Council Chamber of the Civic Centre on Bridge Street on Friday, 7th October 2022. Questions should be submitted a couple of weeks in advance to Nicky.Simpson@reading.gov.uk It will be possible to attend remotely - please email nicky.simpson@reading.gov.uk to request access.

BOB Integrated Care System has announced its Place directors for the component places, Berkshire West, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Sarah Webster, formerly Director of Operations at the Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, will be Interim Place director for Berkshire West. We understand that this role takes on delegated commissioning functions from BIB Integrated Care Board within Berkshire West, which will engage Sarah and her staff with the NHS trust executives, local authority representatives, Healthwatch and third sector representatives across Berkshire West. For the full details of place director appointments across BOB please read the document attached below.

The Mail Online reported on 22nd July 2022 that the number of full-time equivalent GPs has declined by 1,700 since 2015.

NHS England has told hospital trust chief executives to "find space" for emergency patients so that ambulance waits can be kept below 30 minutes. Another opportunity for Britain's space research effort. But will this result in few elective operations being performed? Or less caution about transmitting Covid to patients?

With the Health and Social Care Act 2022 coming into force on Friday 1st July 2022, our Clinical Commissioning Group will be dissolved and commissioning of services will be the responsibility of the BOB Integrated Care Board. This moves away from commissioning dominated by GPs to a top-down system with commissioning of services at a more strategic level - the BOB area (Buckinghamshire, Oxfotdshire and Berkshire West) has about 2.5 million people. The act gives NHS organisations a duty to collaborate and provides for a strategic partnership board involving NHS, local authorities, voluntary, charitable and social enterprise organisations and possibly others. The inaugural meeting will take place from 10am to 12 noon on Friday 1st July 2022 at Jubilee House, 5510 John Smith Drive, Oxford OX4 2LH but will also be live streamed - click here . Questions from the public should be sent to occg.bob.comms@nhs.net by 5pm on Wed 29th June. Please see below for meeting agenda and papers.

The Sunday Times reports on a Birmingham University study on waiting lists for surgery, showing that our BOB area is 12th in need of the 42 Integrated Care System areas, with a need for 88.6 procedures per 1,000 people. It states, 'Experts from Birmingham University have said efforts to reduce hospital backlogs are not enough and that it is impossible for the existing frontline workers to tackle increasing waiting lists.'.

The charity "The Advocacy People" has taken over from the charity "Healthwatch Reading " to deliver the Healthwatch service in Reading, following re-tendering of the contract by Reading Borough Council. All staff have been transferred. There is a new helpline number for Healthwatch Reading: 0118 214 5579 The Advocacy People have been providing the Healthwatch service in West Berkshire and recently in Wokingham as well as other places in the South East.

South Reading Patient Voice meets online and in person in Meeting Room 1 at RISC, 35-39, London Street at 6pm-7.25pm on Wednesday, 20th July 2022. We will hear a talk from Belinda Seston, Interim Director of Place Partnerships for the BOB Integrated Care System on "The Integrated Care System Board". We will also hear news from local NHS providers, Patient Participation Groups etc. Please note, for those attending in person - the entrance to RISC will be at the rear - where there is car parking a railings to attach bikes to - from East Street or from London Street via the alleyway. Meeting Room 1 is smaller than the room we had previously. We expect most attendees to take part remotely, but the in-person meeting is available for officers and those who need or prefer it.

The final meeting of the CCG Primary Care Commissioning Groups for the BOB CCGs takes place at 10.00am on Thursday 16th June 2022. Questions should be subnmitted in advance to bccg.primarycare@nhs.net To join the meeting click here.