7. 6. Statement: Update on the Pathfinder 111 NHS Service in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:57 pm on 4 July 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 4:57, 4 July 2017

You have described how the 111 service works, and, for the record, I think it’s a good idea, and I look forward to measuring its success in future. You say the pathfinder service has been a success so far, but its success, of course, will be measured in its outcomes. You tell us that 73,000 calls were made to the ABM service between October 2016 and April 2017, but, again, it’s outcomes that are important. What effect has that had, for example, on the number of patients attending emergency departments? We speculated, as this was being launched, whilst wishing it well, that if it had been a miserable failure, it would probably lead to an increase in the number of patients attending EDs. I assume from what we’re hearing in this update that that certainly hasn’t happened, but we need to know what the evidence is. We need to be able to measure the impact of 111, not just measure the positive feedback, as important as that is, of patients in that part of Wales.

You tell us that lessons have already been learnt. Perhaps you could give a taste of what lessons have been learnt, and, as much as it’s a pleasure to have you making another statement to us this afternoon—the second one in a row—you tell us that a formal evaluation has been commissioned from the Public and Corporate Economic Consultants unit in association with the University of Sheffield and this is expected in late July. Why make a statement now?