3. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on progress in developing the Buurtzorg pilots of neighbourhood nursing care in Wales? OAQ51901

Yes. The Aneurin Bevan, Cwm Taf and Powys health boards, which cover a variety of urban, Valleys and rural areas of Wales, are looking to trial this style of pilot. They have been commissioned to pilot prototype neighbourhood district nursing teams building on the Buurtzorg model. They are currently working up their plans for these pilots, with the aim to start them early in the new financial year.

The Buurtzorg model of self-determining small teams in charge of a group of citizens who need social care seems to me a really interesting way of improving and reshaping services to better meet people's needs. I'm particularly interested in the way in which around 900 teams in the Netherlands, which is obviously where this system has started, are now supported by no more than 50 administrators and 20 trainers, and meanwhile they spend at least 60 per cent of their time in direct contact with the people they're looking after. So, it's obviously of great interest to people as to how we move forward in light of the parliamentary review. Could you tell us what attention is being paid to the trials that have been progressing elsewhere in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland—how much information you're getting from how well they're working there? How quickly do you think the results of the Welsh pilots can be disseminated across the rest of the NHS in Wales? And would you agree that the Buurtzorg model is exactly the sort of bold new model of seamless care that is highlighted in the parliamentary review, and therefore something we should take great interest in?

Yes, we're obviously interested in the Buurtzorg model and the application of that here in Wales. Officials are looking at the work in Scotland, where they're looking to implement—they're at a very early stage. In London, they're slightly more advanced, with some pilots being up and running. I do think that these are things that are consistent with the views set out in the parliamentary review about new models of neighbourhood care—really local healthcare. The timetable for the pilot to be set out is to look to do this over two years, to have some useful evidence in a variety of settings for some whole-system learning, and then I hope that if there are models that we should implement, then there's a challenge for the system to be able to deliver that on a rapid basis. Officials have also met with Public World and Buurtzorg Britain & Ireland, who are supporting the pilots in Scotland and England. So, we have the best opportunity to look at what's taking place there, as well as the work that is yet to start in Northern Ireland.

Well, we're very interested in this model as well, here in the Welsh Conservatives, and I hope that you'll be able to update us on the work of the pilots over these next two years. It's only one model, of course. You'll be aware of one model of particular interest to me, and that's the Neath primary care hub one, which was supported by Welsh Government Pacesetter money in 2016, and which had the thumbs up from GPs, including the royal college, as well as patients. I'm just wondering if you can give us some sort of indication of what happens to the evaluations of these various trials, and confirm whether the integrated care fund can be used to move a successful pilot into a sustainable fixture. Or is it a bit more of a case that all partners need to chip in to an investment pot in order to make those pilots into something that lasts a bit longer—successful ones?

I will, of course, be happy to update Members as we make more progress on the Buurtzorg-style pilots that the question started off with. In terms of the broader learning from the Neath Pacesetter, I had a very interesting visit there with both David Rees and Jeremy Miles as constituency representatives, looking at the variety of the work that they have in the hub that supports GPs themselves, but also the very positive story that GPs have to tell about telephone triage providing better access to their patients, they believe, and the challenge of staff getting used to it, and patients as well. But also, they believe it's made the job of the general practitioner a better job to do. They also have faster access to different healthcare staff in the hub as well. So, there is lots of learning. It's not just a matter for the ICF, actually; it's also a matter for clusters to look at as well. Of all the different Pacesetters around the country we've invested in, our challenge now is an understanding and an evaluation of the progress they've made, and how we roll that out in an improved model of local healthcare across the country. Because much of this could take place in a number of different communities around the country. It is pace that is the challenge, and that is about the buy-in from cluster leadership and individual clusters, and the variety of people within those local healthcare clusters, which will be really important in being able to do so.