Part of 3. 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 17 May 2017.
Thank you for the question. As you know, I’m not the First Minister but I’m sure he’ll consider your request. There is already a review, as you’d expect, to take place within the service here to learn lessons from what worked and why and what more we need to do in the future, and it’s important that we do that—to understand the level of risk that we carry, to understand what we do within the system, and how we minimise the risk progressively in the future. That’s the right thing to do and that’s what we’re already doing of, and for, ourselves, as we should do. We’re lucky to have national architecture with the NHS Wales Informatics Service, where people are committed—committed to the once-for-Wales approach we’re trying to take on taking advantage of the developments in using digital technology to improve health care—not just the process but the experience and the outcomes for people as well—as well as understanding the risks that are attached to that. There is a meeting of the national informatics board—a nice snappy title within the healthcare world—and they’ll again be looking back at what’s happened as well as looking to the future as well. So, a properly balanced approach—not complacent, but not forgetting, as you say, the real advantages and the real potential for improving healthcare by unlocking the great digital potential that does exist.