Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:28 pm on 28 March 2017.
Thank you for the question. You’re right to point out that there are a range of service improvements already taking place even in these health boards that are not living within overall means. There are good examples across Wales. For example, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg piloted community cardiology, moving services out of hospitals into the community. It’s a better experience for patients and, equally, it means that people who do need to be in a secondary or tertiary care centre are seen more quickly. Often it is the case that a service improvement can lead to financial savings. It is not always the case that you need to spend more money on improving your service. The challenge is that often comes with a difficult conversation—a conversation with the public about why and how services are changing, but also with our staff as well. Not every member of staff is a keen advocate for changing the way that a service works. But we do see a range of different examples where service improvements are delivered, and stroke care is a good example. I had not just a conversation with Cardiff but also with the Aneurin Bevan health board I recently visited with Jayne Bryant—a real improvement in their service and, actually, something for the rest of Wales to aspire to. But, of course, other areas of improvement have been made as well. For example, ABM acknowledged yesterday that they’ve got £4 million of medicines waste within their health board area. So, they’re significant sums of money that could and should be saved that will deliver a better service for our patients, but it still won’t get around the challenge that we do need to see the way in which our service is delivered reformed to improve patient care—the quality and experience. And I fundamentally believe that will also mean that we will live within our financial means as well.