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.

The Reading Health and Wellbeing Board meets in the Civic Offices on Bridge Street at 2pm on Friday, 6th October 2017.

World Mental Health Day is on Tuesday, 12th October and we have events in Reading on that day and on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th. On Tuesday, 10th October, Berkshire Healthcare Psychological Medicine Service, which provides a mental health liaison service in the Royal Berkshire Hospital's A&E Department, will be present near the main entrance of the hospital to describe their work and discuss mental health services. Additionally, on Tuesday, 10th October, Reading's Compass Recovery College will be presented in Central Library and Oxford Road Library - just drop in on the day. On Thursday, 12th October, from 10am to 2.30pm, there will be a free conference at the Whitley Community Development Association Cafe, at the Northumberland Avenue Community Centre. The subject is "Me, My Mind and I - the Shades of Mental Health". Please see the poster below. On Friday, 13th October, from 10am to 2.30pm, there will be a free conference at the Hexham Road Community Centre. The subject is "It's Good To Talk About It: Mental Health". Please see the poster below.

South Reading Patient Voice will be meeting at 6pm on Wednesday, 27th September at 94, London Street, Reading RG14SJ - Reading Community Learning Centre. We will hear a talk from David Cooper - until recently Lead Governor at the Royal Berkshire Hospital Trust. We will also discuss our response to the proposal to merge Berkshire West CCGs and create an Accountable Care System, news from local Patient Participation Groups and the local health economy.

The Government has backed out of selling the NHS's internal staff agency - NHS Professionals after much opposition and demands for an enquiry. NHS Professionals is the NHS's internal staff agency. As the NHS is currently in the middle of waging a campaign against the use of external agency staff (needed because we have neither trained enough staff nor kept up pay sufficiently to retain them) NHS Professionals has suddenly become much more active and much more important to the NHS. It is used for staff to earn more in extra hours or to work on supply. To have externalised this agency would have wrecked the campaign to cut out the payment of excess agency fees in a simply scandalous way so this is a U-turn much to be welcomed.

The new 111 NHS telephone service, starting on 5th September 2017 in Berkshire West and other parts of the Thames Valley has is designed as an Integrated Urgent Care service. It is more closely integrated with the out-of-hours GP service. It is anticipated that about 30% of calls will be handled by a clinician.