Caversham Practice Newsletter - Winter 2026

We have seen lots of different things at The Caversham but the flood on the 31st October was a first for us!

A burst mains water pipe on Leighton Road resulted in flooding and damage to our whole ground floor. Thanks to the swift response of staff and contractors, essential services were maintained and we were able to reinstate most of our services in less that 24 hours.

However, we are currently working with 50% less clinical and administrative space whilst the damaged areas are thoroughly dried out. We are 3 months into that drying out process and still have a couple of months ahead of us until all the drying and refurbishment works are completed. A lot of the refurbishment work will take place at the weekends to minimise disruption to you and our services. Our intention is to use this unfortunate event to improve some of the affected areas.

As part of our short-term adjustments, we have had to relocate some of our services. The Caversham Crafternoon has taken refuge at Kentish Town Community Centre. Our Get Active service is currently operating out of Kentish Town library on a Tuesday. Helping Hands and Digital Inclusion are on a short break whilst we manage the reduced seating in the waiting room, but we hope to reinstate these in March.

Despite all these issues we have been able to plan for and launch some new services.

Microsuction service (for earwax removal) is now available at The Caversham. To access the service, you need to be seen by a Clinician here and assessed as suitable and if so you will be booked in with either Nurse Lavaughn or Olivia.

We are delighted to be launching a New Toenail Cutting Service in February 2026, available across our Primary Care Network for adults aged 18+. This service is for patients unable to care for their own toenails and who are not eligible for NHS podiatry. The service is by referral only, so please speak to your GP if you think you may be eligible. More details will be shared closer to the launch.

Our Social Prescribing team will be working with Parliament Hill on trialling a men’s group “Life of Riley” Poor mental health can affect everyone, but outcomes for Men are partially driven by societal attitudes, so the team are seeing if they can do something different to help break the stigma. If you are interested, then please get in touch.

We are also pleased to be collaborating with Castehaven Community Association to launch a new programme INTERCLUDE a Yoga based Mind & Body exercise group for people with ADHD. If you are interested, then please get in touch. The initiative is partially informed by our pilot Mind & Body programme we ran in March 2025.

Update on the Peckwater Health Centre

In 2024 and 2025 the Patient Participation Group (PPG) initiated and ran a successful campaign to ensure The Peckwater Centre, a purpose-built primary care hub in Kentish Town, was retained as a primary care facility rather than being developed as a secondary care site. The action of the PPG lead to these original proposals being stopped and Centre being renamed The Peckwater Health Centre (PHC) with the intention of it developing as a first-class community health & social care centre.

As part of the development of the PHC, North Central London’s Integrated Care Board agreed an advisory group of patients, service users, clinicians, social care representatives, mental health professionals, and voluntary sector partners, should be created. The purpose of that group being to offer advice, to inform decision-making and ensure that services are shaped by those with lived experience, particularly individuals with long term physical and mental health needs.

As a result of all this work the following services (a mixture of existing and new services) are up and running from the PHC

• Adult and Children’s Wheelchairs Service & Neurorehabilitation, and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy
• Older Adult Services Community team, Dementia Services and Care Home Liaison Service
• Camden Community Diabetes Service ➢ Camden Podiatry Service and Surgical Procedures
• Camden COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and Home Oxygen Service
• Camden Community Heart Failure Service
• Autism and ADHD Assessment Services (known as NDD services)

The refurbished space is designed to co-locate services to aid closer working between mental health, community and primary care professionals. To encourage rehabilitation and self-management, patients can also make use of the on-site gym and community garden to help improve their physical and mental health. The aim being to reduce the need for hospital-based care and that patients are noticing changes for the better in the community services provided.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Caversham Patient Participation group then please complete the PPG sign up form.

What’s going on @ The Cav?

Kentish Town Pedals

Kentish Town Pedals continues to go from strength to strength & meet for a regular bike ride the first Saturday of the Month. If you would like to join please sign up for the ride & if you don’t have a bike, no problem we have some you can borrow. We are pleased to let you know that a similar ride is being established in the Kilburn, no surprise in the name Kilburn Pedals & details of these rides can be found on their webpage.

Walking Group

The Caversham walking group still beats a path across the Heath every Wednesday morning. If you would like to join them please let us know so you can be assured of a warm welcome. The meeting spot is 9:30 at Parliament Hill Café and the walk last about an hour.

Garden Group

The Caversham Monday Gardening Group is currently on Winter break restarting in March 2026. We welcome all levels of gardeners so if you’re interested, please get in touch.

Published: Apr 1, 2026