We all know that our physical surroundings have a big effect on how well we feel. Reading Borough Council is consulting on standards and problems of privately rented accommodation. Reading Borough Council has recently got new powers to regulate the conversion of single family houses into multiply occupied dwellings. They are proposing comprehensive planning standards for these conversions with regard to density of conversion, interior space, amenity space outside, light, height, noise, common rooms and many other details. These factors can affect our health and all the more where living space is being sub-divided. So if you are a private tenant or have experience of living in sub-divided accommodation your comments can be useful. Just take a quick look at the "Let's Talk Housing" page. where you can find the on-line consultation and the full document setting out the proposed planning standards for conversion of family housing to multiple occupation.

At a recent meeting of the South Reading Patient Voice, members heard from Berkshire Healthcare manager Fiona Slevin-Brown, how Health and Social Care are improving their coordination by working together in three regions of the South Reading CCG area. This is part of a major drive to upgrade community care and reduce the number of emergency hospital admissions. The entirety of the South Reading CCG is divided into three parts. The first is Tilehurst, between the rivers Thames and kennet and facing towards the West. Then we have South Reading stretching out towards the Reading boundary and the M4. Lastly, there is East Reading,south of the Thames and covering the Eastern lobe of the borough. In each region social workers and community nurses will coordinate using specialised conferencing software that allows them to hold conference calls, including common viewing of documents. GP surgeries in the Tilehurst region: Tilehurst Village Surgery, Tilehurst Medical Centre, Westwood Road Surgery, Southcote Clinic, Grovelands Medical Centre, Chatham Street Surgery, London Street Surgery, 79 Russell Street Surgery, Reading Walk-In Centre, Abbey Medical Centre GP surgeries in the South Reading region: Milman Road (Dr Kumar), Milman Road (Dr Lister), South Reading Surgery, Whitley Villa Surgery, Chancellor House Surgery, University Health Centre, Whitley Wood Lane Surgery GP surgeries in the East Reading region: 172 London Road Surgery, Melrose Surgery (Dr Dean), Melrose Surgery (Dr Williams), Pembroke Surgery, Kennet Surgery, Christchurch Surgery, Eldon Road Surgery, Long Barn Lane Surgery

The Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Groups have created a web site resource for local diabetes sufferers and those involved in their care. Why not have a look and let them know how you feel about it?

South Reading CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) together with the 3 other commissioning groups in Berkshire West are responsible for procuring acute medical services for the local population. The detailed contract between the CCGs and the RBHFT (one of the principal local providers) is well under way and is expected to be signed off by the end of June, according to Ed Donald, chief executive of the RBH Foundation Trust, speaking at a recent RBH Council of Governors public meeting. Ed Donald's report gives some indication of the stresses and pressures being felt at present at the RBH, showing concern about the financial viability of Critical Care Services and Urgent Care in the A&E department and associated unplanned admissions to the hospital. Ed Donald reported that provision was currently continuing under a Heads of Terms Agreement signed on 28th March 2013 with the CCGs. In the meantime executive-level meetings between the CCGs and the RBHFT have continued. According to Ed Donald, quality issues are largely now agreed and the key areas of focus in the discussions are the Activity, Financial and Business rules. Particular areas of focus were the funding of Critical Care Services and the funding and management arrangements for the expected growth in emergency activity (A&E attendances and unplanned admissions) in 2013/14 and the investment by the Commissioners of the penalty deductions under the national payment-by-results tariff rules. (Under these rules the hospital receives only 30% of the appropriate fee for patients treated in excess of the number for 2008-9 and no fee for patients re-admitted within 30 days of emergency admission.) Also under discussion was the number of follow-up outpatient appointments paid for as part of a given treatment. Ed Donald stressed that one of his priorities was to see the hospital get paid in full for the work it did. So he wanted to see those penalties returning to the hospital as investment in expanded capacity. The Council of Governors will hear a further report at their next meeting in July.

South Reading GPs can now refer patients suffering from certain long term conditions to a new psychological service - "Talking Health". The aim is to provide support for those with Type 2 diabetes and with chronic lung disease (COPD). The service provides both one to one support and the opportunity to meet others with a similar condition to exchange experiences and techniques related to managing and overcoming the condition.

The Daily Mail and The Times report (13 May) that Harmoni, the private health-care provider with 100M contracts from the NHS, uses senior nurses to cover up to quarter of a million patients for their GP out-of-hours (OOH) services when they cannot recruit GPs to do the shifts. Their source is a whistle-blowing GP who worked for the company, which currently runs no services in West Berkshire. Harmoni operations in adjacent areas include the East Hampshire GP OOH service, the Bucks Urgent Care OOH service, the Surrey GP OOH service and the Wiltshire 111 service.

This conference, held on 14 May 2013 and jointly organised by South Reading CCG and South Reading Patient Voice, hosted 140 delegates and was judged a real success. It received a mention on BBC South TV News. ... Speakers from South Reading CCG, Berkshire Healthcare NHS, the University of Reading, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Surrey County Council, and South Reading Patient Voice aimed to inform, identify gaps in services, share best practice and provide a showcase for services. See the South Reading CCG for a more detailed account of the conference.

The NHS England board meeting on 3 May 2013 endorsed proposals for an external review of the model used to roll out the NHS 111 service. The 111 service replaces both NHS Direct and the separate specific telephone numbers needed to call out-of-hours GP services. Official advice is that "you should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help but it's not a life-threatening situation." This, of course, begs the question of the caller's ability to decide reliably when an urgent situation is life threatening. The decision to review follows reports of at least 22 serious untoward incidents (SUIs), including 2 deaths, since the soft launch of 111. The press release from NHS England following their board meeting did not mention these SUIs nor the deaths, but sought to reassure patients that "a good 111 service is now operating in most of the country." The Berkshire version of NHS 111 is due to go live later in May. It will be run by the South Central Ambulance Service.

After the debate and vote in the House of Lords on 24th April 2013 and the ending of the session of Parliament the new NHS Procurement Regulations have passed into law. The regulations govern how public authorities like Clinical Commissioning Groups may lawfully arrange for services to be provided. The regulations have been highly contentious, with the Government asserting that they do not change the existing position, allows bundling of services, and puts the interests of patients first, while opponents including the BMA and several medical charities have claimed that they open the door to widespread privatisation by the back door, and, at the least spread confusion and invite companies to challenge CCG decisions in the courts. The latest set of regulations, now passed, gives the NHS competition regulator, Monitor, the power to annul contracts but not to force CCGs to put services out to tender. Monitor is to finally simplify (or complicate) the situation by putting out a set of case studies intended to guide CCGs in their commissioning work.

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