PPG Minutes: Monday 19th January 2026

Held at 6.30pm at Lambourn Surgery

Present

• Alan Breadmore (Chairman)
• Peter Cox (Secretary)                            
• Liz Cox
• Claire Hill  
• Karen Pryer
• Julia Bennet (Racing)   
• Dr Zoe Wanless (Surgery)
• Louise Murray-Clarke (Surgery)       

Apologies

• Mark Haddock, Geoff Fowler, Bridget Jones, Graham Jones, Mary Wilson, Simon Shaw and Charlotte Clarke.
• It was noted that Simon had left Healthwatch. His contributions had been welcomed. However, it was agreed that no replacement representation from Healthwatch would be sought.

Chairman's Annual Report 2026

Thanks as always for your support and to the partners for their trust in the PPG and the continuing good relationship that we have. A special thank you to Peter who does a great job as secretary and 
keeps me on my toes. 

Membership 

The PPG currently has 13 active members, one up on last year and I’m particularly pleased that we once again have some membership who passionately care about representing the racing community. We currently have an expression of interest from an East Garston Patient, with a long term condition who may be able to bring a new perspective to the group. 

Particular thanks to the ex officio members who provide a conduit into key parts of our community and to Liz and Geoff, who provide a patient perspective to the Amenities Fund. Similarly, again to Liz 
who is now leading the Volunteer Driver Group. 

The VPG has 12 members, down one. 

The need for the volunteer bank has diminished since Covid but we still have 6 or 7 who are active and available. 

There is some overlap in these numbers. 

Activity 

Our quarterly meetings, to discuss the matters of the day have taken place. The PPG has supported two series of Vaccination Clinics in the Spring and Autumn along with members of our volunteer 
group. Thank you to Karen for taking over the coordination of this. 

We have published three newsletters this year, which are now published on a need’s basis. Please say when you feel that there is something that may need including. 

We have discussed the implications of the NHS 10 year plan, including Neighbourhood Health and the merging of ICBs but with insufficient detail to assess any real patient impact. 

Chairman’s activity 

I have 

• Generally liaised with the surgery 
• Edited the newsletters 
• Chaired these meetings  
• Attended six Patient Panel and other Berkshire West meetings on behalf of the PPG. It is useful to get updates from authoritative sources but sadly to me it still seems mainly rather aspirational rather than practical. Topics covered/Speakers have included 
  • Neighbourhood Health - Dr Ellora Evans  
  • Labour Party position – Olivia Bailey MP for West Reading, Lee Dillon, Lib Dem has not yet shown up. 
  • NHS 10 year plan  
  • Working closer with Reading Patient Voice, similar to Patient Panel that I judge to be more campaigning rather than collaborative. 
  • Strategic Direction of Royal Berks NHS Trust
  • Merger of ICBs to create larger Thames Valley ICB 
  • Implications of Unitary Authority remapping on Primary Healthcare and Wellbeing.  

Summary 

Like last year the NHS continues to face enormous challenges and whatever your view on the politics or infrastructure issues I still see the PPG as an opportunity to improve at a local level. 

Hopefully there will be some meat on the bones of the NHS 10 year plan soon, especially regarding Neighbourhood Health. 

I encourage you to continue to support our surgery in every way possible, similarly I urge the surgery to ask for any help that we may be able to provide, so that together we can broaden our activities to support our community. Particularly if you have any new ideas please bring them to this table. 

Also please continue to confidentially share your experiences and those reported to you with the PPG and partners.

AGM

• Elections of Officers to serve a 2-year period
  • Chairperson – Peter took the chair and asked for nominations. Julia proposed and Claire seconded that Alan be elected. This was unanimously agreed.
  • Alan then retook the chair.
  • Vice Chairperson – There were no nominations for the post Charlotte will be asked if she would be able to take the post at the next meeting.
  • Secretary – Peter was proposed by Alan and seconded by Karen. This was unanimously agreed
• Review the constitution
  • Alan had forwarded a proposed Inclusivity Policy and Charter suggested for PPGs to adopt. It was observed that the essence of the policy was already in the Lambourn Surgery PPG constitution. Louise considers that the individual descriptions of those concerned groups should be included which were those based on; Ethnically or cultural background, Sexual orientation, Gender or gender identity, Age, Disability, Religion or belief, Colour of skin and Socio-economic background.
  • Minor corrections were also listed as: In last para of section 3 Objectives – replace CCG with ICB In 4th para of Membership remove double listing of “be”. These amendments will be considered at the next meeting.
• Review the membership in order to maintain an active and representative group. Three potential members had been sent details of which Mark Haddock had accepted.
• Appoint/reappoint Ex Officio members.
  • Representative of Lambourn Parish Council – Bridget
  • Representative of the Benefice of Lambourn Valley - Juli
  • Representative of Lambourn Pharmacy - Graham
  • Representatives for the Racing Industry – Charlotte / Julia
  • Other than Julia none of the above were at the meeting and their continuation as representatives will be confirmed at the next meeting.
• Note the Trustees of the Lambourn Surgery Amenities Fund (LSAF). It was noted that Liz and Geoff are continuing as Trustees of the Fund.

Minutes of the meeting 13th October 2025

The minutes were approved.

Matters Arising 

There were no matters arising which did not arise elsewhere.

Disscussion Topics

Surgery

• Update on vaccinations: Louise reported on the final flu and covid vaccinations carried out over the winter period were 2,389 for flu of which 1,561 were done by the Surgery and 820 elsewhere. This represented a percentage uptake of 92%. For Covid vaccinations the figures were 689 of which 508 were done by the Surgery and 180 elsewhere. This represented a percentage uptake of 81%. It was noted that Covid vaccinations can now be done privately.
• New doctor: Louise announced that a new GP will be joining the practice in the first week after Easter. She is Sobia Kellen and has been working in Reading but is looking to be in a rural practice. She will be working 3 days a week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The workload on all doctors will be reduced.
• Surgery building: Approval and funding have been obtained for the addition of 2 consulting rooms in the area where the courtyard is. Part of the plan will be to convert one of the current rooms to be a quiet room suitable for neuro diverse patients. This will all take place in the middle to end of the year.
• Phone system: Louise was looking to see if a simple 1,2,3 button option could be made available for the phone system where callers could quickly connect to their option. There is already in place an option, that if the caller is waiting for more than 2 mins, they may choose to have a ring—back.

Lambourn Surgeries Amenities Fund

Liz reported that there had been some nice donations recently including one from the Theo Harris Trust. She also recorded the receipt of £550 from Sara Bartlett from the profits of the sale of the Annual Lambourn Calendar. A photo of Liz and Louise receiving the money from Sara had been taken for publication in the local Newbury News newspaper. Louise reported that the £550 would be going towards the replacement centrifuge which was in a state of unrepair and was being frequently used. This is because the blood collection service calls at Lambourn Surgery at 11am and blood taken after this time is often not suitable for testing. Now 2/3 of the blood samples are taken in the afternoon.

Patient Panel (PP)

Alan reported that comments and reports of the PP were covered in his annual report.

Pharmacy

Graham had submitted a written report of; “Over the Flu and Covid Vaccination period (Oct to Dec) we delivered about 1,000 vaccinations both Covid and Flu. Flu represents about 80% of that figure. We can now offer travel vaccinations.

Covid vaccinations start 17th April till 30th June for those who are 75 and over plus those who are immunosuppressed.” Louise confirmed that only those invited by the Surgery will be eligible.

Racing Industry

• Julia reminded the members of the PPG of the Suicide Prevention Summit that was to take place on the 4th February at Oaksey House. This was a community led initiative to discuss the issues facing people working within the racing community and the wider community of the Lambourn Valley. Julia reminded members of the case of an Upper Lambourn yard where there had been 3 suicides in the last 5 years as a need for action to be taken.
• Julia reported that she now offered long distance assistance supporting Racing Home which provided help for those members in racing with children.

Any Other Business (AOB)

Lambourn Health Inequalities meeting held on 14 October 2025

Alan had circulated the draft notes of the meeting which had been attended by; Fion Worby, Healthwatch (FW Charlotte Clarke, Racing Welfare (CC) Manu Cuccureddu, BOB ICB Place Manager (MC) Sarah Wise, BOB ICB Primary Care Lead (SW) Louise Murray-Clark, Practice Manager, Lambourn Surgery (LM-C) Dr Sarah Stallabrass, GP, Lambourn Surgery (SS) Rosie Rostron, PCN Manager (RR) The meeting was convened due to ongoing concerns about health and welfare within the Lambourn racing community, particularly among stable staff, following a recent tragedy and ongoing issues such as addiction, deprivation and limited access to healthcare.

Actions agree

• Community Wellness Outreach Event Planning:
  • MC to Speak to Kate Toton to organise a well-advertised Community Wellness Outreach event specifically for the Lambourn racing community, ensuring collaboration with CC for effective communication and venue facilitation.
  • CC to facilitate venue arrangements and disseminate information about the Community Wellness Outreach event to all yards and the wider community in Lambourn.
  • MC to coordinate with Kate Toton and CC to ensure inclusion of relevant services such as mental health, gambling, and sexual health support.
• Dental Services Provision:
  • SW to speak to dental leads within the primary care team to discuss the possibility of providing accessible dental services (e.g., a dental bus) for the Lambourn community and arrange a separate meeting with CC to clarify needs.
• Public Health and Social Housing Involvement:
  • Contact Stephen Bo from Public Health and Becky from Sovereign Group to involve them in future discussions and the Community Wellness Outreach event, particularly regarding wider determinants of health and social housing. FW to provide contact details.
• Communications and Patient Engagement:
  • SW to engage the communications and patient engagement team within the ICB to develop and distribute information for employers and employees about available health and welfare services in Lambourn.
• School and Youth Engagement:
  • RR LM-C to continue discussions with local schools and the youth club in Lambourn to explore opportunities for health education and information sharing, particularly for young people and safeguarding purposes.

BOB Appliance Management Prescription Service

Alan had already circulated the new details of the service which are; The Medicines Optimisation Team at Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire and Berkshire Integrated Board (BOB ICB) have commissioned a new service to oversee all aspects of patients' stoma, urology, and trans anal irrigation product prescribing. This service has been set up specifically to enhance the care of people using these products. This change means that Lambourn Surgery will no longer issue prescriptions for these appliances. This includes items such as catheters, stoma bags, base plates, adhesive remover, and other associated additional products (e.g., leg/night drainage bags and barrier spray).

Prescriptions for these products will be issued by the new BOB Appliance Management Prescription Service, which serves patients in Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West.

Use of ”family” email addresses

Alan had become aware of some patient families where there was only one email address which the Surgery used for communications which could possibly lead to a lack of confidentiality and/or confusion. To avoid this the surgery agreed that the patient’s name should be clearly shown in the subject title for the message.

Next Meeting

The next meeting was agreed to be on Monday, 20th April in order to avoid clashes with Easter. The Chairman was away for the whole of April but agreed that the meeting go ahead. The Surgery requested that the start of the meeting to be brought forward to 6:00pm to avoid excessive hours by the staff and this will be trialed for this meeting.

The meeting closed at 8:06 pm