3. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: The Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:54 pm on 16 January 2018.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 3:54, 16 January 2018

Cabinet Secretary, there is some very useful, high-level analysis some very useful, high-level analysis in the report, but I think what's most helpful are the detailed recommendations in the annex section, in particular recommendation 7, on innovation, technology and infrastructure. I was very pleased to see the role of digital woven right throughout the report, and its potential to release resource and improve the patient experience. My question is, having read last week's report by the Wales Audit Office in conjunction with today's report, there are a series of direct and indirect criticisms of the National Health Service Wales Informatics Service, NWIS, and I have real doubts about their ability, both in terms of capacity and capability, to deliver this radical agenda—not least the finding from the Wales Audit Office that they've been partial and overly positive in reporting progress to the Welsh Government. So, I just ask for your reflections on the nature of the criticisms in both reports, and whether or not you can now have confidence in NWIS, as currently constituted, to deliver this agenda, and what you can put in place to make sure we achieve the potential of digital.