Alternatives to hospital admission /
Cardiac Rehabilitation
This is a home visiting service for patients in the early post discharge period after a Myocardial Infarction and Cardiac surgery.
It provides clinical home and hospital reviews and medicine reviews as appropriate according to need. It also provides: independent prescribing to support the service; enrolment of patients on to cardiac rehabilitation exercise classes; and, delivery of community cardiac rehabilitation exercise classes. The service is located at Royal Berkshire Hospital and in the community at a variety of locations.
The service is available 08:00-16:00 Monday to Friday. Fax referrals are received 24 hours a day.
Contact / 0118 9899822
Community IV Cellulitis service
The Community based IV service is a joint pathway between the RBH and community nursing services. The patient should be referred as detailed below; A clinical assessment of the patient will be made in CDU and the midline inserted and first dose given. The patient is then discharged to the care of the GP with community nursing team administering follow up doses of antibiotics. Full clinical protocol available on Doctors desktop.
The IV Therapy High Tech Team are available between 08:00-18:00 Monday to Friday.
Contact / The IV Therapy High Tech Team is available between 08:00-18:00 .
0118 937 4877
Community Geriatrician
Comprehensive geriatric assessment of elderly patients in their own home or community clinic. Typical cases include patients with complex co-morbidities, frequent users of GP or acute services, complex medical/social problems including cognitive impairment and capacity issues, or anything else the GP is struggling with. Support for GPs with admission avoidance if you are unsure whether your patient is safe to stay at home; these cases will usually also require rapid response team input as well (see under Admissions Avoidance); this referral needs to be made separately.
NB same day diagnostics require RACOP clinic at the RBH.
This is a Mon-Fri 9-5 service only with limited cover for annual leave.
Full service information and referral form available at http://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/docs/Reading_GPs_Community_Geriatrician_Referral_Form_and_Info_Sheet.doc
Contact / Reading Dr Shashi Gadgil Mobile 07824377988 NB no reception in my office!
Office 01189605318
Fax: 0118 960 5726
PA Anna Swann 0118 9605193
Voicemail: leave your direct line as it can take a long time to get back via switchboard/reception.
West Berkshire Dr Sarah Logan Mobile: 07775026154
Direct Line: 01635 27 3583
Fax: 01635 27 3798
PA Marea Simpson : 01635 27 3573
Wokingham Dr Yetunde Sote Mobile 07786801081
Direct Line: 0118 9492919
Fax 0118 9495260.
PA: Julie Brown 0118 949 2919
Community inpatient beds
A time limited, intensive, clinically-led period of care in Community Hospital beds
The patient’s progress managed through a period of hospital-based rehabilitation. A goal/outcome based intervention plan is designed tailored to the patient’s individual needs.
The service is available 365 days .
Contact / 0118 937 4877 Reading fax: (09:00-19:00) 0118 937 3744
0118 949 5176 Wokingham (08:00 – 19:00)
01635 292 120West Berkshire fax: 01635 292 115
Community Matrons
Community Matrons proactively provide individualised care planning and coordination over the lifetime of the patient. They help the patient to understand their disease pathways and how to recognise early symptoms or changes in their health status.
The service is available from 08.30.00-16.30 Monday to Friday.
Contact / 0118 937 4877 Reading fax: 0118 937 3744

0118 949 5176 Wokingham

01635 292 120West Berkshire fax: 01635 292 115

Community Nursing Service
The service delivers a comprehensive Community Nursing Service, fully integrated with the Primary Health Care Team to provide care/support, largely within a domiciliary setting, for patients with a wide range of nursing needs, including the acutely ill, chronically sick, patients requiring specialist nursing interventions and those at the end of life for both planned and unplanned care support.
The service is available from 07:00 – 19:00, 7 days a week
Contact / 0118 937 4877 Reading fax: 0118 937 3744

0118 949 5176 Wokingham

01635 292 120West Berkshire fax: 01635 292 115
Domiciliary Physiotherapy Service
This service provides physiotherapy when patients are unable to access Outpatient department services or when assessment and treatment is more appropriate in the home. Assessment, advice, mobility equipment and treatment are offered for a wide range conditions.
Referrals are made through Single Point of Access.
Contact /

0118 949 5176 Wokingham Fax: 0118 949 5160

0118 937 4877 Reading Fax: 0118 937 3744

01635 292120 West Berkshire Fax: 01635 292 115

Earlier Supported Discharge (Stroke)
This multi-disciplinary service provides Earlier Supported Discharge to acute stroke patients, stroke-specialised rehabilitation to patients in their homes immediately upon discharge from the stroke unit for up to 6 weeks.
It provides intensive stroke specialist rehabilitation to patients in the community and stroke specialised care, support and information to patients and their carers. Referrals are made through discussion at the twice weekly MDT on the Acute Stroke Unit at RBH and via telephone discussion at other times, with completion of a discharge checklist. Patients can re-refer themselves once known to the service.
The service is available 08:00-16:30.
Contact / 01635 292 120West Berkshire fax: 01635 292 115

Falls Prevention

The aim of this service is to reduce the number of falls and resultant injuries including fractured limbs and soft tissue damage, through evidence-based programmes of assessment and education.
The service is available 08:30-16:30 Monday to Friday. Fax referrals are received 24 hours a day.
Contact / 0118 955 6860 fax: 0118 958 3259

Heart Failure Nursing

This is a community based service for patients with a diagnosis of systolic heart failure (Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction) confirmed by echocardiogram. Patients can either be reviewed in their own homes or in one of the Community Heart Failure Clinics based in each locality. This service provides clinical and medicines reviews with the aim of optimising evidence based heart failure medications to improve symptom control and education about self-management. Access to Telehealth is available for those patients identified as being suitable. Advice and support is offered to patients who are approaching the advanced stage of their disease and close links are maintained with the Consultant Cardiologists and Consultants in Palliative Care to enable access to expert advice when required.
The service is available for the whole of Berkshire West between 09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday.
Contact / 0118 927 3423
Fax: 0118 927 3423
Intravenous Therapy
This service provides intravenous treatments given in community settings to enable patients to have their treatments closer to home.
Treatments are given in day treatment units in Newbury and Wokingham and also at home (where appropriate) and delivered by a team of specialist nurses. Treatments given include:
IV Fluids for re-hydration, Blood products (e.g. blood transfusions), Intravenous antibiotics, Intravenous drugs (e.g. pamidronate, magnesium) and Total parenteral nutrition (IV feeding).
Contact / 0118 937 4877
Neuro Rehabilitation
This multi-disciplinary team empowers patients and their carers to realise their full potential using a client centred, holistic, goal orientated rehabilitation approach and treatment in their preferred place of care.
It comprises: Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, a Specialist Stroke Rehabilitation Nurse and Therapy Assistants. There are inpatient Neuro-rehabilitation beds on Donnington Ward, West Berkshire Community Hospital, for patients unable to be discharged home from an Acute setting. There is a time limited (up to 12 weeks) specialist neuro-rehabilitation for individuals with realistic, achievable goals that may improve or maintain their ability to perform activities of daily living that are purposeful, functional and meaningful to that individual. It empowers and enables the individual and their carer to manage their own condition.
Ward referrals: To the ward manger or via SPA
Community Referrals: CBNRT Referral form posted or faxed to SPA
The service is available 08:00-16:30.
Contact /

01635 292 120West Berkshire fax: 01635 292 115

Night-Sitting
This service provides emergency night-time support for vulnerable adults. Up to seven nights of emergency sitting may be provided for reasons including: UTIs, chest infections, support following a fall without fracture, carer illness or hospital admission, emergency carer respite.
Referral criteria:
The service user must be safe to stay at home.
Any necessary equipment is already in the home.
There are emergency contact details for the service user if the carer is in hospital.
The service is available 22:00-07:00. Referrals received between 08:00-19:00 7 days a week.
Contact / 0118 937 4877
Older peoples Mental Health services in Reading
Common Point of Entry
Provides a single point of entry for mental health services for all ages including older people in Berkshire. The team will take referrals and direct them to the appropriate service. They will also offer advice and signposting to other services as appropriate. All new referrals should go through CPE.
Service is available 08.00 -20.00 Monday – Friday.
Contact / 0300 365 0300
Community Mental Health Team for Older people
Provides assessment, treatment and on-going support for older people with severe and enduring mental health problems. This includes younger people with a diagnosis of dementia. The team comprises Health and Social care staff who visit people at home and offer support to them and to their carers. The team also offers psychological support to patient s and carers both on a 1:1 basis and in therapeutic groups.
Service is available: 09.00am – 17.00 Monday – Friday.
Contact / Hazelwood – 0118 9605959
Crisis/Home Treatment Team for Older People
Offers urgent assessments and intensive support to older people in crisis to prevent the need for hospital admission. Also acts as gatekeeper to in-patient beds in Prospect Park Hospital for older people.
Service is available 09.00 - 19.00 Monday – Friday
09.00 - 17.00 Weekends and Bank Holidays.
Outside these hours the adult Urgent care team provides cover for older people.
Contact / Hazelwood 0118 9605959 – Monday – Friday 9am – 7pm
0118 9605975 - Weekends & Bank Holidays 9am – 5pm
Urgent Care 0300 365 0300 – at all other times.
Out of Hours Evening Nursing
This service offers an evening, qualified nursing service and will visit patients in their own homes or residential settings to provide short term nursing care under the umbrella of Intermediate Care.
It is based at Wokingham Hospital and West Berkshire Community Hospital.
The service is available between 19:00-23:00.
Contact /

0118 949 5176 (19:00-23:00 - Monday to Friday)

0118 978 7811 (Out of hours – Westcall)

Out of Hours End of Life Night Nursing
This service is for patients who have reached the end of their life irrespective of diagnosis, and the patient, family or informal carer is aware of their prognosis.
The service offers assessment and care but is not a sitting service. It operates between 23:00 – 07:00, 7 days a week.
Contact / 0118 949 5176 (23:00–07:00 - Monday to Sunday)
0118 978 7811 (Out of hours – Westcall)
Out of Hours Service (WestCall)
This service provides urgent and unscheduled primary care during the Out-of-Hours period. It provides advice, treatment, medication and onward referral, to those patients whose conditions cannot wait for treatment until their own GP Practice is open on the following working morning.
The service is based at Wokingham Community Hospital (Operations Centre/Administrative Office), Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation Trust (treatments) and West Berkshire Community Hospital (treatments).
Contact / 0118 978 7811 (Monday-Friday 18.30 - 08.00, Friday 18.30 - Monday 08.00 and during all public holidays)
RACOP (Rapid Assessment Clinic for Older People)
The purpose is to see older patients who need urgent specialist medical assessment. It is used as a means of preventing admission to hospital where the patient may be able to remain at home with guidance from the consultant with support from intermediate care services.
RACOP clinics are led by a consultant or Specialist Registrar in Care of the Elderly and are based at Royal Berkshire Hospital, Dellwood and West Berkshire Community Hospital.
Contact / 0118 322 6547 Royal Berkshire Hospital (weekdays except Thursday)
01635 292 120West Berkshire Community Hospital fax: 01635 292 115
0118 960 5193 Reading (Dellwood) – (Thursday - limited diagnostics)
Rapid Response and Intermediate Care
The service offers intermediate or integrated care (social care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing support) to patients at home as an alternative to admission. The service has a focus on re-ablement (rehabilitation and supporting people to adapt and adjust to any reduction in function in order to support independent living).
The service aims to assess all rapid referrals within two hours, following which a decision is made about whether the patient can be accepted. A care package can then be put in place at short notice later that day.
In practice the types of patient who tend to be suitable for the service are:
·  Older people
·  Patients who are medically stable
·  People who are expected to have a temporary increase in their care needs (for up to six weeks, the maximum period that the additional care is usually offered)
The service is particularly good at managing the following medical problems:
·  Patients who have had a fall, requiring primarily occupational therapy and physiotherapy, and may be supported at home
·  Patients with reduced mobility
·  Patients with constipation or urinary symptoms
·  Patients with dementia
·  Patients with a mild infection requiring oral antibiotics, and without delirium
·  End of Life Patients
· 
Referrals are accepted for patients in the community, in the Emergency Department or on the Clinical Decision Unit.
Contact /

Reading 0118 937 4877

Wokingham 0118 949 5176

West Berkshire 01635 292120fax: 01635 292115

Reading Borough Council – Reading 24 Out-of-Hours emergency care
An Out-of-hours service (24 hours) designed to assist people to remain in their own home with home care support. This is to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital or residential care, resulting from an emergency situation such as a carer is taken ill or needs to be admitted to hospital and the cared for person cannot be left without some additional care or where an individual may have sustained an injury or have a temporary illness that means they are unable to care for themselves safely in their own homes and would otherwise be admitted to hospital.
Contact / 07894938503
Respiratory service
It is a community based respiratory service for patients with long term respiratory diseases including COPD patients. It aims to help patients regain confidence, improve symptoms, and prevent avoidable hospital admissions through rapid intervention and regular reviews Home Oxygen Specialist nurses undertake home oxygen reviews at 6 months for new prescriptions and annually thereafter.
Rapid Response Specialist Nurses and Physiotherapists provide domiciliary visits to a patient’s home within two hours in response to a referral from a GP or health professional to stabilise the patient’s condition and to support them to remain independent and out of acute care. This may be followed by a further period of reablement.
The Pulmonary rehab programme will then provide twice weekly supervised exercise and education programme for patients disabled by their breathing at the MRC Scale of 3 and above, (despite being on optimal medical therapy as defined by NICE guidelines, and who have been classified as Mild/Moderate disease).
Oxygen saturations should be ideally at 92% or above but patients can be reviewed if they have an oxygen prescription.
The service is available from 08:00-17:00 Monday to Friday (after 16:00 the patient may not be seen until the following day).
Contact /

0118 982 2946

Fax: 0118 952 5442