Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:24 pm on 16 January 2018.
I, too, would like to welcome this report today. I found it to be an energising and enlightening read, and I'd like to thank Dr Ruth Hussey and the members of her team for all the hard work they've done, but also for the engagement that they have offered to me and to my Welsh Conservative colleagues in bringing forward ideas and thoughts, and recommending people to go and talk to to get to the truth of the matter.
There's no doubt that health and social care faces some enormous challenges over these coming years—increasing demand, new drugs and technology and to have a better and more holistic understanding of what well-being is, and we have to combat all of that in the face of rising expectations from the general public. The case for change is compelling, and this is a very welcome analysis of the challenges we face. It pulls no punches and agitates for reform at pace, and I think one of the reasons we need to do this reform, Cabinet Secretary, is that I think it's very clear that we do not have a current vision for the NHS, and that there hasn't been sufficient attention on how to achieve that vision, how to achieve change and how to make best practice common practice.
I note you intend to publish a long-term plan in the spring, and I would absolutely urge you not to be sidetracked by what I call the 'low-level stuff' and the lobbying that I'm sure you're going to start getting, because this is about the strategic direction of the health service going forward. Would you be able to tell us how long after the plan is published you intend to commence a programme of transformation? Anyone who's been involved in change throughout business will know that change cannot last for too long. Transformation programmes do need to be pushed at pace. Will you commit in the plan to reviewing the periods of maybe every year, every couple of years, every five years, to make sure that we are on track and are doing what we need to do?
I think the report tackles the area of competence, and I think there's a real concern emerging by the panel and other stakeholders that we do not have enough people with the relevant experience and skills to run such an ambitious change programme. How do you intend to address this, Cabinet Secretary? Will you start recruiting for those people soon, otherwise any change programme that you may put forward in the spring is going to take even longer to get off the ground?
In health, we have an independent sector, namely GPs. In social care, we have an independent sector, namely our valuable care home providers. We see the tensions today between the public sector and those independent sectors. Cabinet Secretary, how do you intend to address that in putting together your strategic plan and bringing those people on board to ensure that this is a whole NHS and a whole healthcare sector engagement?
How will you be intending to bring on board the general public? Much was made of the general public in this review by Dr Ruth Hussey, and I'd like to understand the weight that you put down on that.
Proceeding at pace is going to be a difficult thing. We need to bring on the health and care staff. We need to ensure we have training and a clear path forward for those people to understand how they are going to be engaged in building their and our NHS. Do you intend to put in place a strategic—I'm sorry, this is my last question, Deputy Presiding Officer—do you intend to put in place a strategic transformation team of experienced individuals with cross-cutting and collaborative skills, who will have the authority to drive the transformation across all of our health boards, and will they also eventually be able to look at the critical question—the elephant in the room that no-one can talk about or has talked about—which is how we are going to fund all of this, because the money is incredibly important? I do understand it wasn't part of the review, but without understanding how much money we have going forward to spend on health and social care, it might be very difficult to achieve some of these excellent objectives.
Good review, Cabinet Secretary; please don't let it just sit on a shelf somewhere in Welsh Government and go nowhere, because this is good, good stuff. I'm very pleased to see it.