4. 4. Statement: The National Planned Care Programme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:43 pm on 10 October 2017.

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Photo of Angela Burns Angela Burns Conservative 3:43, 10 October 2017

I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today. In your statement, Cabinet Secretary, you highlight some welcome examples of good practice. What I’d like to know, though, is when could we see the results of all the pilots that were run—good, bad or indifferent—such as the health literacy questionnaire that was run by Cwm Taf, or the patient activation measures that were run in Cardiff and Vale, because I think we can learn lessons from all the pilots. Is there anywhere we can go to have a look at them so that we can evaluate each and every one of them?

Could you also confirm that you are reviewing best-practice examples not just within Wales but whether you’re looking at other countries, either other home nations or within Europe? What are you using to benchmark these best practices so that something we think is good really is absolutely the best it can possibly be? How are you monitoring against developments in good practice elsewhere?

My third question, Cabinet Secretary, is: I’m a little bit concerned by your comment about the 9 per cent of people who do not turn up for follow-up appointments. That is obviously totally unacceptable, and I agree with you on that, but you mention that your way of dealing with it will be to stop offering so many follow-up appointments. Could you please clarify whether you already know the type of person who’s likely to be in that nine per cent? Have they not been turning up because actually we’ve just been far too extravagant and offered them follow-up appointments when it wasn’t clinically necessary, or are they just people who’ve not turned up because they feel better and so they can’t be bothered? Because what I wouldn’t like to see is by refusing or by deciding to offer fewer appointments, we’re throwing out the baby with the bathwater and the people who do need follow-up appointments are not given those.

Virtual clinics: really welcomed step forward. I think that’s a great idea, but could you please tell us what you’re doing to ensure that poor broadband or poor IT knowledge does not stop those who need to use them or could use them from using and being part of a virtual clinic?

And finally, Cabinet Secretary, one co-designing planned care event was held in 2015, and there were two planned for 2016, but search as I may, I cannot find the information that says whether or not those events went ahead. Could you please tell me if they did go ahead, and is this an ongoing programme? Are there more of these co-designing planned care events in the pipeline? Is this what forms Peter Lewis’s thinking on delivering the model that we have here before us? Because I think it’s very important to be able to invest all of our stakeholders with real authority and real ability to take part in delivering truly integrated services. Thank you.