Latest news with #RoyalBerkshireHospital
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Hospital unit named after Reading's Victoria Cross hero Fred Potts
A £12m hospital unit named after a World War One soldier who is Reading's only recipient of a Victoria Cross has been officially Potts was shot in the thigh but dragged badly wounded Arthur Andrews on a shovel for 500 metres while under fire during the Gallipoli campaign in August unit at the town's Royal Berkshire Hospital housing the urology service was named after Mr Potts following a ceremony on grandson Robert Binham never met him before his death aged 50 in 1943 but said his family remained "extremely proud" of his achievement. The Victoria Cross is Britain's joint-highest award for gallantry and marks an act of extreme bravery in the presence of the pair had already hidden under Turkish trenches for two days before Mr Potts' act of heroism. "I understand he was an extremely modest man, who never talked about it," Mr Binham said."He just believed that what he did, anybody would have done so why should he be recognised for that? Which is brilliant, isn't it, really?"The family never really talked about it. We were just extremely proud that he had won his medal," he Potts has been commemorated since 2015 by a statue outside Forbury Gardens following a successful fundraising campaign. According to a BBC Radio Berkshire documentary, which brought Mr Potts' contribution to light, a total of 320 men from Berkshire Yeomanry fought at the Battle of Scimitar Hill on 21 August 1915. More than half were casualties and 65 were killed. Of those who died, 54 have no known Potts returned to Reading a hero. Hundreds of people attended his wedding and he attended the burial of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey on 11 November Potts Way in Reading was officially named after him at another ceremony in the town in April 2014. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook and X
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Reading's urgent care centre moved to Royal Berkshire Hospital
An urgent care centre is set to open at Reading's Royal Berkshire Hospital, moving from a location in the town facility will not be a walk-in and patients should phone 101 or use to get advice from medical professionals as to whether they should previous facility in Broad Street Mall allowed people with an urgent but not life-threatening condition to get treatment with no booking, but patients could also pre-book had been hoped that it would cut the number of people turning up at the hospital for treatment but it did not have the desired effect. Figures collected in the first year of the service showed that even when more people turned up at the centre looking for help, they were matched by similar rises at the Broad Street Health Centre, which is also in the Broad Street Mall, will still be open for registered patients. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, and X.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Royal Berkshire Hospital converting toilets as space runs out
A hospital that will not be rebuilt for at least 12 years is being forced to convert tiny spaces, including toilets, to see patients, staff Berkshire Hospital (RBH) bosses have urged the government to rebuild it for years but in January it was told it would not be rebuilt until at least parts of the Reading hospital are almost 200 years old and millions of pounds is being spent on maintenance for buildings that cannot be used by Omar Nafousi said when he started at the hospital's emergency department in 2011, staff were expected to see 150 patients a day. Now they can see up to 500. "A business would be proud of that [increase] – but we're not a business," he said."We've expanded a little bit but not enough. That's our biggest constraint right now: capacity and where you can see patients."We've tried everything. We've even converted a toilet into a cubicle just to be able to get that tiny bit of space."Dom Hardy, the hospital's chief operating officer, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that water "hoses" through some of its buildings when it rains."There comes a point at which patching just isn't enough," he said, adding: "You've actually got to think about whether you should have this building at all."He said £2.4m had been spent on a listed building that could not be used clinically but needed to be maintained. Steve McManus, the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust's chief executive, told BBC Radio Berkshire that current funding for the hospital's £100m of backlog maintenance "isn't keeping up with the level of deterioration in certain parts we see on the site."Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an extra £29bn for the NHS in England in her Spending Review on 11 McManus said that while additional funding would help day-to-day spending and was "welcome", it would not fix the structural problems at the hospital RBH was told it would receive a share of £4.4m for repairs earlier this month. Announcing the money, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "A decade and a half of underinvestment left hospitals crumbling, with burst pipes flooding emergency departments, faulty electrical systems shutting down operating theatres, and mothers giving birth in outdated facilities that lack basic dignity." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Reading town centre's urgent care centre to move to hospital
An urgent care centre set up to ease the pressure on Reading's A&E is to close two-and-a-half years after opening. The facility in Broad Street Mall allows people with urgent but not life threatening conditions to get treatment by walking in off the street, although patients can also pre-book hope was it would lead to a sharp drop in the number of people turning up at the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) - but figures show the centre has not had the desired is not the end of the project though as a new urgent care centre will open in the hospital itself. People will need to call NHS 111 before they can be referred. Figures collected in the first year of the service running showed that even when more people turned up at the centre looking for help they were matched by similar rises at the hospital itself.A report by the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, which oversees the current urgent care centre, said it saw no significant improvement in the number of patients seen by doctors at the RBH's A&E after the centre was opened. As for the new urgent care centre, the care board said: "By being closer to the RBH's Accident and Emergency department, the urgent care centre will be able to treat those patients who need to be seen on the same day but who don't need the specialist support of the A&E team."The service will ensure patients are treated by the most appropriate healthcare professional, resulting in shorter waiting times and enabling A&E staff to treat patients who most need emergency and specialist care."The new centre will start operating on 1 July.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Town gets 96 new parking machines
New parking payment machines are being installed in Reading after the old ones were taken out of service in April. The borough council has begun the process of replacing the old pay and display machines - which allowed drivers to pay over the phone or using the RingGo app - with 96 new ones. They will allow contactless payments by bank cards, mobile payments via apps, and about 20 of them will take cash payments. Lead councillor for transport John Ennis said the new machines would offer "a much more convenient service" for motorists. He said he recognised cash payment remained popular in some places, which the council said included the area around the Royal Berkshire Hospital. "Machines will still accept cash in these locations," he said. The old machines were bagged up in April. Of the 96 machines, 82 will be used for on-street parking, with the remainder being installed in off-street car parks. The council's review of its on-street parking service found that 55% of transactions were made using the RingGo app. RingGo's call service allows people to pay for parking without needing a smartphone. The installation of the machines clears the way for emissions-based parking charges to be introduced, which were discussed by the council's traffic management sub-committee on Wednesday. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Parking machines covered amid move to cashless Reading Borough Council
