A new regional organisation, the Thames Valley Integrated Care Board (TV ICB), will be established on 1 April 2026 and become the statutory commissioning body responsible for planning and allocating NHS budgets for Reading and the surrounding area. The change brings together the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) area with East Berkshire (currently in Frimley ICB) to form a single regional board covering roughly 2.5 million people.
The TV ICB will commission services across the area — allocating budgets to hospitals, GP practices, dentists and pharmacies — and aims to make services run more smoothly by improving coordination between hospitals and primary care. Hospital services in Reading will continue to be provided by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, while the new board will influence long-term strategy and funding decisions for the trust.
The merger replaces two smaller ICB arrangements with a larger regional body intended to reduce duplication and improve consistency of care across the Thames Valley. Health leaders have said the change should lower running costs and streamline decision-making; local patient and community groups have urged continued local involvement to ensure Reading residents’ needs are not lost in a larger organisation. Healthwatch West Berkshire has said it will keep a close watch on the transition to protect local voices.
One of the board’s biggest tasks will be helping shape the future of the Royal Berkshire Hospital estate. The government’s revised New Hospital Programme timetable places the Royal Berkshire scheme in a later wave, with construction expected to start in the 2037–2039 window. In the meantime, the immediate focus for the trust and partners will be maintaining and investing in the existing hospital site while planning for any new facility.
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