The Primary Care Commissioning Committee for Berkshire West meets in public at 1pm on Wednesday, 13th September at the Berkshire Maestros building, Prospect School, Cockney Hill, Reading. If attending please register online. For details on asking questions at the meeting please see here.

With the budget approaching we have a plethora of reports of the acute need for additional funding if the NHS is to continue as we know it. The target for 92% of patients referred for treatment should receive it within 18 weeks has been assigned low priority since March 2017. It had not been achieved for over a year and controlling hospital deficits has higher priority in the current constrained position. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have issued a report on the state of care in the NHS.. It concludes that the majority of care is good but that the system and workforce are at full stretch with numbers of patients and complexity of cases still increasing and future quality is precarious. There has been much improvement, it states, but some services have deteriorated in quality. As reported by Sky News In a speech in Birmingham, Simon Stevens, the leader of NHS England, warmed that the planned budget for 2018-19 falls well short of what is needed to look after patients and their families at their time of greatest need. Some elective treatments may have to be retrenched or rationed. Workforce shortages are widely acknowledged and aggravated by the uncertainty and unease created by the Brexit vote. The Royal College of Nursing has called for a "cash injection" to the NHS. It calls for 4billion increase for the NHS and 2.6billion of social care to prevent increasing patient waits, deteriorating quality and rationing of treatment. The report is based on analyses by the Health Foundation, the King's Fund and the Nuffield Trust. We can note that the 1% public sector pay policy whose end has just been announced corresponds to a loss in real income of about 14%. The Health Foundation has issued a report on the NHS workforce. This shows numbers of nurses and GPs still falling and a big fall in the number of mature people starting nursing courses after the abolition of student bursaries for nursing courses outweighing an increase in 18-19 year-olds joining these courses. NHS Providers has issued a call for budget funding increases to help the NHS recover to achieve its target standards. It points out that despite best efforts from front-line staff all four key NHS performance targets for A&E, planned operations, ambulance response times and cancer were missed last year for the first time ever. The elective surgery list is now nearing a length last seen in 2007; and trusts are warning they will struggle to recover the 95 per A & E four hour target. In calling for a realistic, prioritised plan for the rest of the parliament, it emphasises that NHS trusts want to meet the constitutional standards placed on the NHS. It also points out that they have improved productivity and made significant savings in recent years, and continue to do so. The King's Fund has been issued quarterly reports on the state of the NHS for six years. In its latest quarterly report they conclude, "Performance against a number of key indicators is worse than at this time last year, and finances remain precarious despite an emergency funding injection." High levels of flu in the Southern hemisphere give rise to fears that there could be many cases here.

The Governing Body of South Reading CCG meets in public at 9.30-12,30 on Wednesday 6th December 2017 at the Museum of English Rural Life, Redlands Road, RG1 5EX. To book your attendance or to find out about asking questions at the end of the meeting please see here. or phone 0118 982 2706.

Berkshire CCGs are keen to understand how local people experience accessing local mental health services and how this could be improved in the future and are holding meetings for you to have your say. There will be a meeting for local people to have their say from 2pm to 4pm on Thursday, 30th November at the Methodist Church, Rose Street Wokingham, RG40 1XS. If you wish to attend please book your ticket using the link here . There is an alternative meeting in Windsor on Wednesday 8th November, 2pm to 4pm, at The Windsor Baptist Church, Victoria Street, Windsor, SL4 1EH. Tickets for this event should be booked using the link here ,

South Reading Patient Voice will meet at 6pm on Wednesday, 29th November 2017 for an AGM and to hear a short talk from AGE UK Reading. We will also hear news from local Patient Participation Groups, Reading Healthwatch and concerning the local health system.

Royal Berkshire Hospital Cancer Team, Thames Valley Cancer Alliance and Macmillan invite you to help shape the future of cancer services in a free event at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre, Madejski Stadium, Reading RG2 0FL from 10am to 4.30pm on Wednesday, 22nd November 2017. Tea/coffee and lunch provided. Talks and workshops laid on. The Royal Berkshire Hospital Cancer team and Macmillan with support from the Thames Valley Cancer Alliance are committed to ensuring those affected by cancer are able to shape the support and services available to them. With a range of key speakers and interactive workshop sessions this event is designed to identify key issues that affect patients at different times during the cancer journey, and to start shaping the ways that those affected by cancer are supported, informed and treated. This event is free. Tea/coffee and lunch will be provided. To book a place click here . or for further information contact Julian Backhouse Macmillan Partnership Manager for Berkshire at: jbackhouse@macmillan.org.uk .

South Reading Patient Voice will be meeting at 6pm on Wednesday, 25th October at the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ. Our speakers will be Kim Seabrook and two others from Arthritis Matters, a local charity. We will also hear news from Healthwatch and from Patient Participation Groups as well as about the local health economy.

The Westwood Road Practice has announced that the branch surgery at Whitley Wood Road will be closed at the end of January 2018. The nearest alternative, South Reading Surgery, was judged INADEQUATE by the Care Quality Commission in May 2017. The provider was then changed at Shinfield and South Reading, so that the INADEQUATE rating no longer applies, but the person responsible is still Dr Neena Grover as before the change of provider. The attached document gives information about alternative GP surgeries.

Reading is marking International Older Peoples' Day with an exhibition and events at Rivermead Leisure Centre on Monday, 9th October from 1pm to 4pm. And South Reading Patient Voice will be there too. Please see the attached flyer for transport details.

The independent Berkshire charity Sport In Mind, which "Promotes Mental Well-Being Through Sport", is holding a charity walk on 7th October 2017. Start at Reading's Civic Offices on Bridge Street at 10.30am and walk 5.5km to the Cunning Man pub. Have lunch there and walk back or take the 2 or 2a bus back into Reading. Please register via info@sportinmind.org and make your charitable donation at www.virginmoneygiving.com/SportInMindCharityWalk2017. For enquiries contact Laura at Sport In Mind on 07341267740.