The latest issue of the BOB ICB newsletter explains that the BOB area - Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West, will grow by adding East Berkshire, comprised of the boroughs of Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead and Slough. This include Frimley Park hospital and much of the Frimley ICB area. The government is requiring ICB areas to be coterminous with local authority boundaries. BOB ICB already has the same chair as Frimley ICB in Dr Priya Singh. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is the NHS provider of mental health services and community health services across Berkshire as a whole, so this move simplifies their environment.

There will be a special event for Dementia Week at 2pm on Friday 23rd May 2025 at the Reading Biscuit factory on Oxford Road outside Broad Street Mall. The event is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Society and the National Institute of Health Research, Oxford and Thames Valley Applied Research Collaboration.

Attendees will see a film, "Life in Embrace", about dementia care in the UK and India and hear from researchers about the state of knowledge and treatment of dementia.

Registration is required - please email arc_oxtv@phc.ox.ac.uk with your name and the number of places you require.

The event is wheel-chair accessible and the screening is dementia friendly.

A poster for the event is attached.

Reading's Director of Public Health has had to put of his talk to Reading Patient Voice Group to our next meeting on 18 June.

Reading Patient Voice Group will meet at 6pm on Wednesday, 21st May 2025 in Committee Room 4b of the Civic Offices on Bridge Street and online via Teams. Please note that entrance to the Reading Civic Offices is still at the rear.

We will discuss local health news, report on the recent meeting of the BOB Integrated Care Board, on the Dying Matters Week discussion, and consider what Integrated Neighbourhood Teams might be and do.

To join the meeting please click on this link.

Reading Borough Council is hosting a couple of events for Dying Matters week.

An event is being held at the Biscuit Factory, Queen’s Walk, on Wednesday 7 May between 10am and noon, in conjunction with Healthwatch. You will be able to discuss and assess if the right services are available at the right time or what else could be done to improve such an upsetting experience in a safe, welcoming space to share thoughts, ask questions and to learn more. 

Then on Saturday 10 May, Reading Crematorium and Henley Road Cemetery invite you to their open day from 10.30am, also part of Dying Matters Awareness Week. This is a chance to ask any questions you've always wanted to ask, wander through the beautiful Gardens of Memory, and take a guided tour of the Crematorium.

BOB Integrated Care Board will meet in public at 13.30 on Tuesday 13th May 2025.

Please click on this link to join the meeting.