Dr Jim Kennedy, Medical Director of the Thames Valley Local Medical Committee of the British Medical Association will talk on "Who will see you now? Prospects for Doctors in the NHS" at the South Reading Patient Voice meeting on Wednesday, 28th October 2015 at 6pm at 94, London Street, Reading RG1 4SJ. There will also be news from Patient Participation Groups and from the South Reading CCG.

South Reading Patient Voice meets on Wednesday, 23rd September 2015 for elections of officers, a review of the year's activities and planning ahead for future meetings and activities. There will also be a review of the "key messages" on the Berkshire West Primary Care Strategy and news from Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) and the CCG.

A King's Fund blog says that NHS spending is being squeezed as never before. UK Health spending is falling as a proportion of GDP and has already reached 22nd place among nations.

The contract for South Reading and Shinfield Surgeries is to be relet. Patients views are requested. Patients at the surgeries please fill in this survey . The contract for the Broad Street Mall walk-in centre is also being relet.

There will be public events on 8th, 9th, 10th October 2015 at Reading and other places in Berkshire to mark World Mental Health Day, Saturday 10th October 2015. Click to find out more.

The Reading Health and Wellbeing Board will meet at 2pm on Friday, 9th October 2015, in the Council Chamber, Civic Offices, Bridge Street, Reading. The agenda includes reviews of end of life care, Reading's community armed services covenant, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), joint working to support children and families, and Reading's Autism plan.

South Reading Patient Voice will meet on Wednesday, 28th October 2015 at 6pm at 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ The main speaker will be Dr Jim Kennedy, Medical Director of the Thames Valley Local Medical Committee of the British Medical Association, who will speak on prospects for doctors, especially GPs, in the NHS. We will also discuss local NHS issues, especially matters raised by local Patient Participation Groups. If not already a member, and wishing to attend, please contact us here.

South Reading NHS Clinical Commissioning Group specifies health services for its population of about 125,000 registered patients from healthcare and allied providers and passes NHS funds to them. It is federated with the Newbury/West-Berks, Wokingham and North-and-West-Reading CCGs in the Berkshire West CCG Federation using common central staff for most of its work, but has a few staff of its own to support its local activities. 20 GP practices in Tilehurst, Coley, South Reading, Central and East Reading, University area are its members and sit on its Council of Practices which selects the Governing Body chair and approves essential policies. It is run by a Governing Body, which holds a meeting in public once every 3 months, as well as a public AGM.

South Reading Patient Voice will meet on 23rd September at the NEW TIME of 6pm at 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ. The meeting will take the form of an AGM - with a review of the year's activity, planning ahead for future meetings and activities, and elections for the offices of chair, vice-chair and information officer. We will also review our "key messages" on the Berkshire West Primary Care Strategy and discuss the recent engagement event at the CCG AGM, and review news from PPGs and the CCG.

Since July 2015 Thames Valley Police working in Berkshire West (Reading, West Berks and Wokingham) have been able to call on a mental health professional when called upon to deal with mental ill health. A mental health professional from Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust (BHFT) will be available to police from 5pm to 1am from Thursday to Monday (5 days a week). The aim of the project (funded by the Department of Health) is to minimise the use of police custody as a place of safety for those suffering from mental ill health and to improve police interactions with those suffering from mental ill health. The mental health professionals are there to attend incidents with police officers so they can offer face-to-face advice, make accurate risk assessments and give the right care to the patient.