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Why we held the forum On 1 October, more than 75 people attended our Racism in Care Forum, delivered through our Thinking Together community engagement model in partnership with Healthwatch Wokingham Borough and the Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality (ACRE). The forum brought together people with lived experience, community members, NHS trusts, councils, health and social care professionals, academics, and voluntary and community organisations to discuss racism, discri

From Monday 5 October 2026, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust will be moving to the national NHS.net email platform. As part of this change, all Trust email addresses will switch from @royalberkshire.nhs.uk to @NHS.net. What does this mean for patients and the public? There is nothing you need to do. Emails sent to existing @royalberkshire.nhs.uk email addresses will continue to be automatically redirected for a limited period following the change. The Trust will also upda

Following our first infographic exploring residents’ experiences of the NHS App, we’re sharing the next set of findings from our survey results and conversations with local communities. Our findings show that nearly 1 in 2 people surveyed across Reading do not currently use the NHS App. When responses from Reading and Wokingham Borough are combined, this figure is 1 in 3 people. People told us there are several reasons for this, including preferring traditional ways to access

Our evaluation report, which features recommendations on Reading’s Community Wellness Outreach Programme, is now live. What is the Community Wellness Outreach programme? In 2022/23, only 6%* of eligible local people (aged 40–74 who hadn’t had a check in the previous five years) accessed a free NHS Health Check at their GP surgeries. It was also clear that some people from different communities across Reading were not attending their GP at all. To address this, the Community W

We’re delighted to share this update from Alliance and Cohesion for Racial Equality ( ACRE ) to help encourage our Reading communities, networks and residents to access these valuable vaccine videos. Please share this article and videos so we can all help more people understand their vaccine options and support healthier communities. "Alliance and Cohesion for Racial Equality (ACRE) has launched a new series of multilingual vaccine information videos designed to help more peo

From the end of March, people will start to notice some changes to the NHS App. According to NHS Digital, the app will begin to look different as updates are rolled out over the coming weeks. For some people, the update will happen automatically, and others may see a message asking them to update the NHS app. What is changing? A new “App help” button at the top of each screen will take users directly to support information. Users will be able to view and manage their personal

On 26 February 2026, the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation published an interim report showing the urgent need to improve care for mothers and babies in England. Background The investigation was launched in June 2025 by Health Secretary Wes Streeting to review NHS maternity services across England. Led by Baroness Valerie Amos, the aim is to uncover the “systemic causes of unacceptable care affecting women, babies, and families.” It includes local revi

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has launched its refreshed strategy to improve patient care for 2025-2030. The strategy focuses on the Trust embracing the NHS’s 10-Year Health Plan to lead transformation at the Trust. The Trust says that through artificial intelligence and data, genomics, robotics and advanced diagnostics, it will harness the power of technology to personalise care, improve patient outcomes and increase productivity. The refreshed strategy focuses on: De

Resident doctors (previously known as junior doctors) are taking industrial action from Wednesday 17 December 2025 to Monday 22 December 2025, locally and nationally. Whilst Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is putting plans in place to reduce the impact this will have on the running of Royal Berkshire Hospital and its other services, some appointments may need to be changed. If your appointment is impacted by this, you will be contacted by the Trust to reschedule your app

From 1 December 2025, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has temporarily stopped accepting new referrals to their Adult ADHD service. The trust said: "This difficult decision has been made in discussion with our local Integrated Care Boards (the organisations responsible for planning health services in their local area) to make sure we can continue to provide safe, effective and sustainable care for people who already use the service." "We know this news may be worryin

The Government has responded to the petition to save Healthwatch, after plans were announced earlier this year to close down Healthwatch England and the local Healthwatch network as part of the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. The petition, which is open until 7 February 2026, calls on the Government to: • Revisit its decision to abolish local independent services that speak up for the public • Consult with the public to codesign a service which meets their needs and supports the

The pharmacies listed below should be open as shown. The details are correct at the time of publishing but are subject to change. You are...

Today the cost of an NHS prescription will increase, rising from £9.65 to £9.90 per item in England. A 12-month NHS prescription...

The National Diabetes Experience Survey is a new survey which gives people living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in England the...