Reading's ACRE (Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality), Utulivu and other organisations have organised the 2020 Health Equalities Annual Conference online (Zoom) under the title "Potentialising Community Assets in Filling the Gaps for Sustainable Health Equity (All for our wellbeing) on Friday, 31st July from 11am to 2pm. Please join via the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7674792806?pwd=N1pKRFZram9MNnhrdkRNNmFjVVAxdz09 or in the Zoom app Meeting ID: 767479 2806 Password: 2804 Please see also the attached poster

The review looked at 3 treatments which have caused harm and which only slowly and reluctantly been recognised as such. These are: hormonal pregnancy tests, the anti-convulsant drug Sodium Valproate when given in pregnancy, and the use of polypropylene mesh for pelvic repairs. In all cases serious harm and much suffering resulted and was only slowly recognised. The review looks at the experiences of patients, the reasons for the delayed recognition of the harm and makes 9 recommendations to remedy the situation. Among these is the appointment of an independent Patient Safety Commissioner, the creation of better registries of use of medicines and medical devices, improvements in the law on medical devices and the creation of a Redress Agency. A reading of at least the Introduction and summary of Overarching Themes is highly recommended. You can hear a podcast from the Health Service Journal on why the Government will bury the Cumberlege review here .

The annual national GP patient survey - representing patients' views of their GP practices - has just been published for 2020. This is based on data taken near the start of the year. The scoring is based on patients' classification of various features of the services. Because there is no natural absolute scale for these figures we have chosen to use the practice's rank among all practices in England. For each practice and each measure the result is given like this: Needs met at last general practice appointment - Yes, definitely + Yes, to some extent 0.9388 (4033 of 6732) 40.09% The column heading summarises the question and the choice of responses for which a score is given. The first figure (0.9388 in this case) is the proportion of respondents at that practice choosing one of those responses - in this case agreeing that their needs were either definitely or to some extent met. The entry in parentheses shows the rank of this practice among all practices for which this measure can be obtained - in this case the practice is the 4033rd from the top - even though its score of 0.9388 seems high this is misleading as 4032 practices out of 6732 have a higher (or equal) score. The percentage then expresses this ranking - 100% for the top score and 0% for the bottom score - and in this case being more than half way down the rank, the score is less than 50%. Sometimes there is no entry - there may not have been enough answers to this particular question from the respondents. We should not forget that the patient responses vary with demography, personal characteristics, funding, prevalence of disease which may not be attributes of the practice. Nevertheless, the gross differences can be taken as representations of patients' views.

The Berkshire West Primary Care Committee meets virtually from 1pm to 4pm on Wednesday 8th July. Practice performance (QOF) and the renewal of the Walk-In Centre contract are among the topics to be discussed. The meeting is being help over the Microsoft Teams application. Members of the public who wish to attend, are able to dial in to listen using these details: +44 20 3321 5208. Conference ID: 503 447 053#. To enable members of the public attending the opportunity to put forward an agenda related question to PCCC committee members, all questions that have been submitted in advance of the meeting will not be discussed. The agenda includes an allotted time slot for public questions, and will be limited to one question per person. This will be subject to time available on the day and at the discretion of the Chair. To submit a question pleases email: bwccg.bwprimarycare@nhs.net or telephone 0118 982 2922. Please note: questions must relate to the agenda and are limited to a maximum of three per person.

Patients at Milman Road Health Centre and at Kennet Surgery have been made aware of a plan to merge the two practices. The letter to patients assures them that there will be no reduction in appointments available. It is possible, though, that the branch surgery at Christchurch Road might be discontinued at some time with patients given a choice as to where to transfer.

Reading borough is developing a local plan to control outbreaks of Covid-19. The plan can be inspected here .

The CCG held its 9th June meeting by multi-way telephone call. The meeting papers are below - featuring some details on the measures taken for COVID-19 and the arrangements for paying for them.

The main public health technique for controlling epidemics returns to England tomorrow with the start of the NHS Test and Trace service. ..... Anyone with corona virus symptoms will be asked to self-idolate and book a test. If the test delivers a negative result, the self-isolation ceases but if it is positive the service will contact them and try to work out all their contacts - people who have been within 2 metres of them for more than 15 minutes in the last few days. These contacts will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days or 7 days after they develop symptoms, whichever is shorter. If they have a negative test result they must still carry on with this. In this way the spread of Covid-19 can be reduced. Success depends on prompt action at all stages, booking a test, taking it, getting results back, tracing contacts. This is because the virus can develop in a contact within a few days so that they become infectious. COVID-19 is best understood as a pattern of local outbreaks, rather than a national pandemic with a similar impact in every community, which is why councils as local leaders have a fundamental role to play in the test and trace service. It is good government has recognised the importance of directors of public health within councils, who need to have the necessary powers and authority to lead the response locally and tackle outbreaks early and aggressively. The success of the programme will also depend on the continued support and co-operation of the general public. We believe they would be reassured and encouraged if the roll-out of the service is underpinned by the leadership of their local council. Environmental health, emergency planners, trading standards, public health including sexual health services and infection control nurses are just some of the council services which can use their considerable expertise and unparalleled experience, to help in stopping the spread of coronavirus. As we move into the next phase, it is important that councils have the capacity and necessary data to play their full part in this national programme, so they can understand where the outbreaks are happening and be able to act quickly to contain them. Local government and local public health departments will have a central role. The Local Government Association said: "COVID-19 is best understood as a pattern of local outbreaks, rather than a national pandemic with a similar impact in every community, which is why councils as local leaders have a fundamental role to play in the test and trace service. It is good government has recognised the importance of directors of public health within councils, who need to have the necessary powers and authority to lead the response locally and tackle outbreaks early and aggressively. The success of the programme will also depend on the continued support and co-operation of the general public. We believe they would be reassured and encouraged if the roll-out of the service is underpinned by the leadership of their local council. Environmental health, emergency planners, trading standards, public health including sexual health services and infection control nurses are just some of the council services which can use their considerable expertise and unparalleled experience, to help in stopping the spread of coronavirus. As we move into the next phase, it is important that councils have the capacity and necessary data to play their full part in this national programme, so they can understand where the outbreaks are happening and be able to act quickly to contain them.

The Independent SAGE commission, chaired by former Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, has issued a report on the integrated Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support system that is necessary to control the Covid-19 epidemic as the crude lockdown is eased.

The Government has announced 300 million funding for local authorities to take a central role in the national test, track and isolate programme. ..... Pro-rata funding for Reading would be 870,000. The national Joint Biosecurity Centre will act the supplier of data to local authorities to use in suppressing local outbreaks of Covid-19. Each local authority must develop a plan to do this in its area. Their plans will focus on identifying and containing potential outbreaks in places such as workplaces, housing complexes, care homes and schools. Local authorities will also be responsible for ensuring that testing for the virus is directed to the highest risk settings, working with local NHS and other partners. They will operate in close partnership with local hospitals, GP practices, businesses, religious groups, schools and charities. National Test and Trace Adviser and Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, Tom Riordan, said: "It is essential that communities and local authorities are at the heart of our plans to roll out test and trace. Their work to respond to the virus has been exemplary, demonstrating how people across the country have come together to respond to the virus. As we move forward with our plans to trace every case of the virus, and contact those at risk, we will need to continue to work together and tailor support at a local level. This joint endeavour between local government, the NHS and local partners will help those in self-isolation, and reduce the risk of widespread outbreaks in our schools, businesses, hospitals and communities. A new National Local Government Advisory Board will be established to work with the test and trace service. This will include sharing best practice between communities across the country." 11 local authorities have been selected to share lessons learned (although any authority could do this). They are Tameside, Warwickshire, Leeds, London (Camden lead in collaboration with Hackney, Barnet and Newham), Devon with Cornwall, Newcastle with Northumberland and North Tyneside, Middlesbrough with Redcar and Cleveland, Surrey, Norfolk, Leicestershire, Cheshire West and Chester. It might be wondered why this did not happen in February rather than at the end of May.