We will be meeting between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 25th March 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Kate Turner on the Hospital At Home programme which attempts to move more care into home and the community, as well as a consultation on this year's Beat the Streets and news and discussion about health care locally.

"The Future of Primary Care" will be the main topic of the evening when we meet between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 29th April 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Nicola Jones, Berkshire West Federation Primary Care Transformation Manager, on the Future of Primary Care as well as discussion of local health care.

It is well known that patients are waiting longer to get a GP appointment and that without action the situation will get worse as a generation of GPs retires - two surgeries in in North and West Reading have already had to find new service providers as GPs retired and could not be replaced. Professional bodies have been looking at the role that pharmacists could play in General Practice. The Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have put out a joint announcement (see attached document). There is an over-supply of pharmacists - who are in any case cheaper to employ than GPs. Qualified pharmacists can become "prescribing pharmacists" by taking an additional course with a minimum of 26 days teaching and 12 days monitored learning in a practice environment (see attached document). Roles suggested for prescribing pharmacists in GP practices are to conduct medicines reviews for patients with long term conditions and review the management of medicines in the practice. A particular challenge is to arrange this in small practices such as we have in South Reading. The very great differences between the training of pharmacists and GPs are in the time that GPs spend with patients working on diagnostic and treatment skills. It would not be appropriate for pharmacists to be conducting primary diagnoses of patients. It is customary to recommend consultation with a pharmacist for "minor ailments". But what if one doesn't know in the first place just what ails one? A clear delineation of the role of the pharmacist in the GP practice is surely essential if we are not to descend to a second class GP service.

The BBC has reported that the NHS in England missed the target of treating 85% of cancer patients within 2 months (62 days) for all 4 quarters of 2014. Analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support has shown that the UK is about 10 years behind leading European nations in terms of cancer five-year survival rates. A key problem is that many patients typically present llater than elsewhere. This may be due to the operation of our otherwise efficient and effective GP gatekeeper system. A GP sees on average 8 cancer patients per year. As other causes of death decline cancer is becoming a more prevalent condition and early diagnosis and effective treatment is becoming ever more urgent.

A new campaigning group is to be set up for carers in mental health other than dementia. The group will be a sub-group of Berkshire Carers Support Group. The group will help carers find resources, empower themselves and promote a a joined-up mental/physical health and social care system that responds to their needs, wants and values. If interesed please contact: Dr Sofija Opacic tel: 07966 369579 For more details see the attached flyer.

We will be meeting between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 25th February 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Karen Grannum, South Reading NHS CCG Manager on the planning for healthcare for South Reading for 2015/16. as well as further news and discussion about health care locally.

We will be meeting between 6.15pm and 7:45pm on Wednesday, 25th March 2015 in the Reading Community Learning Centre, 94, London Street, RG1 4SJ (see Agenda for directions) . There will be a talk and discussion led by Katie Summers on the Hospital At Home programme which attempts to move more care into home and the community,. as well as a consultation on this year's Beat the Streets and news and discussion about health care locally.

The Governing Body of South Reading NHS CCG meets in public at 9.30am - 12:30pm on Wednesday 4th March 2015, at the Museum of Rural Life, Redlands Road, RG1 5EX The agenda includes quality and performance reports as well as reports by the chair and chief officer and summary reports from the clinical commissioning groups which plan services in detail. Particular items for discussion at this meeting will be the proposal to merge the Patient Engagement Groups of the two Reading CCGs, and the proposal to take in-house part of the commissioning capabilities initially split out the Commissioning Support Unit (CSU). Questions from the public should be emailed to karen.grannum@nhs.net before noon on Tuesday 3rd March 2015.

It is reported that the parent company of Reading's Riverview Care Home, Life Style Care(2011) Plc, has been placed in administration. The home will continue as usual and residents and carers should not be needlessly alarmed. The administrators aim is to realise the value of the assets and the purpose-built facliities could hardly be put to any other use. Riverview Care Home has had an eventful history. It was part of the Southern Cross empire, which was owned at one time by US private equity managers Blackstone. Blackstone and previous owners separated the properties from the care business in such a way that the care business paid rents increasing at 2.5% per annum while they realised massive returns by selling on the properties. In the end of course Southern Cross collapsed. Taken over by Life Style Care(2011) Plc, the care home, with 137 beds, received a disastrous report from the Care Quality Commission in 2013, failing on all counts. It was put back in order with considerable assistance from Reading Borough Council, who needed to maintain its facilities for use by Reading residents in need of high levels of care. Life Style Care(2011) Plc runs 23 care homes, mostly in the South of England, employs 2,200 staff and cares for 1,400 patients. Should any residents families have any concerns they can contact Life Style Care(2011) on 020 7303 8244 or email Lifestyle2011residents@deloitte.co.uk . Employees can call 020 73036623 or email Lifestyle2011employees@deloitte.co.uk.

Reading Borough Council in partnership with Solutions 4 Health offers its residents the FREE Eat 4 Health (E4H) weight management programme to support people to lose weight and more importantly keep it off, helping them to achieve their goals. The E4H courses are delivered in group settings and are open to anyone 16 years and above who has a Body mass index (BMI) over 25. E4H offers 10 FREE weekly sessions at a variety of local community venues. Each session lasts one and a half hours and contains an interactive nutrition workshop and exercise session. The E4H qualified instructor will help you to understand various food topics and will support you to become more physically active. All exercise sessions are tailored to your ability, so everyone can take part. To find out more please visit: www.eat-4-health.co.uk.