The NHS in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West is again preparing for the impact of further industrial action by junior doctors from 7am on Friday 11 August to 7am on Tuesday 15 August. The Trusts affected by this action in our area are: • Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust • Oxford University Hospitals NHS FT • Oxford Health NHS FT • Royal Berkshire NHS FT • Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust • South Central Ambulance Service NHS FT We are now entering the ninth month of industrial action across the NHS and staff continue to provide patients with the best possible care under the circumstances. This period of industrial action is taking place during the peak of the summer holidays so there is significant pressure on our services. Although our local hospitals will continue to provide urgent and emergency care, they have had to reschedule appointments and elective inpatient and day case procedures to ensure they keep patients who are currently in hospital safe. To help the NHS safely manage the impact of industrial action, some routine and non-urgent appointments and procedures, day surgery and some elective surgery across hospitals in BOB have been rescheduled. Some appointments before and after the days of industrial action may also be affected. All patients who are affected are being contacted directly. Patients with appointments booked on strike days will be contacted by the NHS if their appointment needs to be rescheduled. If they have not been contacted, they should attend their appointment as planned. The NHS is doing everything possible to prioritise patients with the highest clinical needs, including patients who have already waited a long time for their treatment and cancer and dialysis patients. Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. If people need medical help or advice or are unsure about whether they should go to hospital, they are advised to contact NHS 111 online unless it is a life-threatening emergency when they should still call 999. Patients should take advice from 111 / 999 call-handlers on whether there are circumstances where it is suitable for them to make their own way to hospital. During strike days, it is likely 999 and 111 call handlers will be very busy, this may mean longer call response times. As a result, the NHS is urging anyone with non-urgent care need to first seek help from NHS 111 online. In the meantime, people can help by ensuring prescriptions are up to date and looking out for vulnerable family and friends. People are reminded to: 1. Continue to access GPs as normal 2. Call 111 to get the right service for their needs 3. Make sure prescriptions are up to date 4. Stay safe and look out for vulnerable family and friends 5. Keep appointments unless contacted by the NHS with alternative arrangements 6. Remember A&E is for emergencies and life-threatening situations 7. NHS staff are working extremely hard during a very challenging time – please do treat them with respect. We appreciate people's understanding and co-operation during this time. Dr Nick Broughton Chief Executive

A new pilot has started for local people who are most in need of dental care and treatment. We ask that you continue to try your local practice first but if you are in one of the following groups you may be able to get treatment from Gentle Dental Care in Tilehurst: Those who have not attended a practice in the previous 2 years People relocating to the area who cannot access NHS services Looked After Children Families of armed forces personnel Asylum seekers and refugees Other groups which may be locally identified who are more vulnerable and would find it hard to access services ordinarily, such as pregnant women. We will provide more information as we get it. This is a pilot scheme so will continue to be reviewed and developed.

The biggest NHS strikes to date start on Thursday 13 July unless there is a breakthrough in staff pay disputes between the British Medical Association, other unions and the government. Reading locals could now also face delays to x-rays, scans and cancer treatment when radiographers strike for 48 hours. Scheduled strikes: Thursday 13 July - Tuesday 18 July (starting at 7 am) Junior doctors and hospital dental trainees will strike for five days. This means the cancellation of planned care as consultants step in to cover junior doctors' workload. Junior doctors make up around half of all doctors in the NHS. Junior doctors are qualified doctors who have anywhere up to eight years of experience working as hospital doctor, depending on their speciality, or up to three years in general practice. Thursday 20 July and Friday 21 July Consultant hospital doctors and dentists will strike take action, although to a ‘Christmas Day’ level of service in which they will still provide medical cover for emergency patients. Tuesday 25 July – Thursday 27 July (starting at 8am) In separate strike action announced by by the Society of Radiographers, Radiographers will bt taking strike action, potentially affecting patients’ X-rays and scans. Future strikes TBC A ballot of junior doctor members of the British Medical Association is also taking place to seek a fresh mandate for more industrial action, as the current one ends late August. What is Healthwatch doing? Healthwatch England is due to meet NHS England on Tuesday 11 July to check contingency plans for the upcoming strike action. Healthwatch Reading will keep you updated with the latest local and national information as it comes in on this news page, and across our social media channels. How do the strikes affect me and/or my family? Will emergency care be affected on strike days? Emergency care will continue to be available across Berkshire. It is essential that in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or their life is at risk, patients continue to come forward as normal. What if I need urgent or emergency care? Anyone who needs urgent care should use NHS111 online or call NHS 111 to be assessed and directed to the right care for them. When someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk, you should seek emergency care in the normal way, by calling 999 or attending A&E. The NHS.UK website has more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E. What if I have an appointment on a strike day? Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation has said on their website “Services may be affected. We'll contact patients if your appointment is rescheduled.” This means everyone who has an appointment should attend as planned unless your NHS provider has contacted you to reschedule. If you have not been contacted, please attend your appointment even if your NHS Trust is affected by strikes. GP practices will continue to be open during the junior doctors' strike. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise. When will I find out if my appointment is rescheduled? The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action. This is likely to be a letter or phone call, and you should be offered an alternative date for your appointment. If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned. Is there anything I should do now? No, the NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action. Should I cancel my appointment on the day of strikes? No, if you have not been contacted, please attend your appointment as planned. Where can I go for more information? For more information on July’s upcoming industrial action, please click here to access NHS England's Q&A.

Healthwatch England (HWE) conducted a review of feedback received about maternity services in 2021/2022. They found that maternity care, including support for maternal mental health was worsening. With evidence from the National Childbirth Trust that mental health is not routinely discussed at postnatal checks, led Healthwatch England to undertake a further look into people’s experience of maternity services in 2022. As part of their project, Healthwatch England conducted a national survey from October to December 2022. At the same time, the three Healthwatch in Berkshire West (Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham Borough) felt it was important to understand the local picture and how it compares to the national situation. We therefore conducted the same survey, adding a question so people could tell us which of the three areas they lived in. The results are captured here as an addendum to the main report, noting that our survey responses have also been included in data for the main report. Download the full report below.

Access to NHS dental care continues to be a problem for people across the UK, including Reading locals. Here at Healthwatch Reading, we continue to engage with NHS England - South East Dental and NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB). BOB ICB has responsibility for planning and funding NHS services for local people across Berkshire West, which includes Reading locals. They have both provided the team with a dental care Q&A which features the latest dental information and advice, including (but not the whole list) where to go if you can't find a local NHS dentist and what to do if you need urgent dental treatment. You can download the Q&A below. Click here to find out how your feedback is helping our national body, Healthwatch England, inform the UK Government to make a national change in NHS dentistry. If you have any questions, need more information and advice on local dental care or want to share your experiences and views on the dental crisis, you can contact us by: Calling us on: 0118 214 5579 Emailing us: info@healthwatchreading.co.uk Filling out an online form, here.

We're pleased to share our annual report for 2022-2023 with you, detailing our work as a new Healthwatch staff team through a new host provider The Advocacy People, and with the support of our newly created volunteer Advisory Group. This report has helped us take stock, reflect on what we have achieved in our first 10 months and plan our priorities for next year. Hence why we have called our report ‘Laying the Foundations’ - we have laid the groundwork to be a powerful voice for Reading residents in decisions about health and social care. Alice Kunjappy-Clifton Lead Officer, Healthwatch Reading Please contact us if you need this report in a different format or have any questions or comments about this report. You can read our report by clicking below.

Everyone has the right to make a complaint about any aspect of NHS care, treatment or service, and this is written into the NHS Constitution on GOV.UK. There are many ways in which you can raise an NHS complaint and one of these ways is changing from 1st July. What is changing From 1 July 2023, people across the UK will no longer be able to raise an NHS complaint about GPs, dentists, opticians or pharmacy services (also known as primary care services) directly to NHS England. Instead, complaints must be raised to the local organisation that pays for services and care you receive locally, known as a commissioner. The local commissioner for Reading is the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB). Find out more about BOB ICS here. If you have an ongoing complaint that was received by NHS England before 1 July 2022, you will receive a letter from NHS England informing you that your complaint is being retained by NHS England with confirmation of your case handler. If you have an ongoing complaint received on/after 1 July 2022 will receive a letter from NHS England informing them that the local commissioner is now handling your complaint with confirmation of your case handler. What is not changing You can still make a complaint directly to the healthcare provider (where you received the NHS service, such as your dentist, or GP) rather than going through the commissioner. If you would like free, independent and confidential support with your NHS complaint rather than going directly to the commissioner or healthcare provider, you can reach out to us, as our host The Advocacy People, can support you with your NHS complaint from the start. Click here for more information on making an NHS formal complaint with us.

As we enter the Summer with heatwaves arriving and weather alerts issued, it's important to be heat aware, especially for people and children who are vulnerable. They may need help, support and guidance during this time. You can find lots of information and advice below: NHS guidance: Heatwave: how to cope in hot weather - NHS (www.nhs.uk) UK Health Security Agency (was known as Public Health England): Beat the heat: keep cool at home checklist - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Met Office: Hot weather and its impacts - Met Office

Professor David Croisdale-Appleby has been appointed as the new Chair of Healthwatch England, the independent champion for people who use health and social care. David will take up the role to lead Healthwatch to ensure decision makers and the NHS hear the public voice and use their experiences to improve care. He also joins CQC as a non-executive director. David is an academic, medical educationist and social reformer, and has held many leadership positions at organisations across the health and care sectors. Until recently a non-executive director at Health Education England, David is the current chair of the Royal College of Physicians. He also chairs Durham University International Business School and Dementia UK. His previous positions as a Chair have included at an NHS trust, the forensic science regulator and the UK-wide sector skills council for social care and social work. David’s national awards include an OBE in 2009, the Sunday Times Non-Executive Director of the Year in 2016, and the National Charity Governance Award in 2019. Speaking of his appointment, Prof David Croisdale-Appleby said: "Listening to the voice of the public is essential in designing and shaping the NHS and social care services if we are to achieve better quality care for our nation. "Over the last decade, the Healthwatch network has empowered millions of people to share their personal experiences of care, and has become an essential advocate to which policy-makers and services listen. They’ve demonstrated the power of patient feedback to help decision-makers understand what is, and isn’t working well, identifying issues, and suggesting how best to improve them. "I feel very privileged to take on the role of Chair of Healthwatch England at this critical time for our health and care services, focusing on the big issues that concern the public and the communities that experience severe health inequalities." Ian Dilks, Chair at CQC, said: “We are delighted to welcome Professor Croisdale-Appleby to the CQC Board in his role as Chair of Healthwatch England. He joins us at a critical period for the organisation as we implement our new strategy and seek to ensure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, high quality care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to working closely with him and the wider Board to drive improvements across health and social care.” David replaces Belinda Black, who has been an interim Chair of the Healthwatch England Committee, following the departure of Sir Robert Francis KC last November.

Dr Nick Broughton has been appointed the interim Chief Executive of NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB). Nick, who joins the ICB in July, will bring a wealth of experience to the organisation. He has been in his role as Chief Executive at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust for three years. Previously, he was Chief Executive at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the organisation from a Care Quality Committee rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ in 2017 to ‘Good’ in January 2020. Nick is currently a member of the ICB board in his role as Mental Health Partner member. As a consultant psychiatrist for more than 20 years specialising in forensic psychiatry, Nick has held medical and clinical director roles, and a variety of other managerial positions, including as Chief Executive of Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Read more about Dr Nick Broughton and his appointment on the BOB ICB website, here.

Two adult social care services used by Reading locals have been recently inspected by the CQC, and we want your feedback if you or a family member have used these services. 1. Downshire House (Aston Care Ltd) has been rated "inadequate." This means the service is performing badly and the CQC has taken enforcement action against the provider of the service. This was a targeted inspection by the CQC to follow up 2 warning notices served at the previous inspection about safeguarding people from abuse and proper treatment and the need for consent. We use targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check concerns. You can read the the full report here. 2. Superb Healthcare has been rated "requires improvement." The CQC have identified breaches in relation to staffing, need to consent, person centred care planning and good governance at this inspection. You can read the full report here. Have your say and give us your feedback (the positive and/or negative) which will be shared with the local CQC inspection team, anonymously, by: Calling us: 0118 214 5579 Emailing us: info@healthwatchreading.co.uk Filling on our online form here.

It's a busy May, with a few bank holidays in the pipeline. The team at Healthwatch Reading would like to remind everyone to make sure their medicine cabinets are stocked up, and repeat prescriptions are ordered in time for the following dates: Monday 1st May: May Day bank holiday Saturday 6th May: Coronation of King Charles III Monday 8th May: Bank holiday for the Coronation of King Charles III Monday 29th May: Spring bank holiday During the bank holidays, please call your chosen pharmacy before visiting to ensure they are open and have the medication you need. Local pharmacy opening hours are below: Get medical help with NHS 111 NHS 111 can also be used for less-urgent health concerns to get advice and information based on their individual specific symptoms. The service is available 24 hours a day, including weekends and bank holidays, and can be reached online at 111.nhs.uk or over the phone by calling 119. Reading Urgent Care Centre You can visit the the Urgent Care Centre for quick and easy access to healthcare if you have an urgent medical need and treatment for minor illnesses. Please note the centre can not treat injuries. The centre is open 8am-8pm 7 days a week, including bank holidays. Address: 1st Floor, 103-105 Broad Street Mall, Reading, RG1 7QA More information, please visit the website here. In an emergency People experiencing a genuine, life-threatening health emergency, such as heavy bleeding, significant chest pain or loss of consciousness should seek help straight away by calling 999 or by visiting the nearest hospital emergency department.