News & reports

West Berkshire Council, our local authority, has launched a six-week consultation on the future of Adult Social Care, and residents, carers, families, and people with lived experience are being encouraged to take part. Adult Social Care supports many people across our communities, including older residents, disabled people, unpaid carers, and young people moving into adult services. The new strategy sets out six priorities that will help shape how support is delivered in the

A recent report, Care on Hold by Re-engage, explores how changes to GP access are affecting people. particularly older adults, at a time when digital routes are becoming increasingly central to how services are delivered. Alongside this national picture, Healthwatch West Berkshire has been working with wider Berkshire partners on a detailed understanding of digital exclusion across the county. Taken together, these two pieces of work highlight an important and growing issue:

The NHS App is continuing to evolve, with a new update this April making it easier for patients to check and manage hospital appointments in one place. This change is part of a wider shift towards more digital access across the NHS — but what does it actually mean for people, and what should we be paying attention to locally? What’s changed? Patients can now view hospital and specialist appointments directly in the NHS App, alongside GP appointments, prescriptions, and test