A BOLD five-point plan will be published by the Member of the Senedd for Monmouth this week to allow Wales’ health and social care system to build back more resilient.
Having liaised with key stakeholders, including BMA Cymru Wales, Royal College of Physicians, clinicians and many others, Peter Fox MS has compiled an ambitious five-point plan to help ease the mounting pressures facing the Welsh NHS.
In his short debate, called the current challenges facing the health and social care system in Wales and opportunities for future service transformation, today (Wednesday, January 2nd) Mr Fox will speak at length of his five points, which include:
1. Equipping the NHS with reliable and efficient technology:
Updated NHS technology will ensure primary and secondary care (GPs and hospital doctors) can communicate for patients to find out where they are on waiting lists sooner.
2. Ensure a 24/7 local authority-led social care discharge service:
Localised 24/7 discharge schemes would speed up assessments and support patients to go home sooner with the right package of care.
3. Recruiting and retention of staff:
Bolder training targets are needed to recruit and retain staff, including increasing the numbers of GP training numbers beyond the current 160 new trainees per year, and promoting careers within the social care sector.
4. Creating a more modern and transparent NHS:
Wales desperately needs the NHS and Welsh Government to show more ambition, drive and vision, while being more open and transparent in how it collaborates with patient groups and stakeholders; the people of Wales must be given the opportunity to take a more active role in the way their public services are developed and delivered; the public must be able to access clear expectations of improvement over the foreseeable future; and encourage greater innovation and links with universities and researchers.
5. More focus on prevention:
Improve access to prevention programmes based in primary and community care, especially for those living in poverty, and invest in innovation, including screening programmes, vaccines and wearable technology.
Ahead of the debate, Mr Fox said:
“Our NHS is under pressure like never before and, since my election to the Senedd, I’ve received reams of deeply disturbing health-related cases from my constituents.
“These cases, which range from constituents being stuck in the back of ambulances to someone actually being carried into hospital on the back of a plank, are unacceptable and should never have happened.
“Time after time, we hear Labour officials say they will get a grip of these problems, but nothing seems to be improving. Throwing more money at a problem isn’t always the answer; we need to make sure resources are used in the right way.
“That is why I’m publishing my ambitious blueprint, having liaised with key stakeholders, which I urge Welsh Labour Ministers heed to.
“We need to achieve the three rights: to provide excellent health care to the right patient, at the right place, at the right time.”
ENDS/
For editors’ notes:
People in Wales face a higher risk of dying in poverty than any other UK nation (Marie Curie).
Health inequalities cost the Welsh NHS £322 million every year (Public Health Wales).
Currently, one in five people are stuck on an NHS waiting list in Wales.
