Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:25 pm on 15 October 2019.
Thank you for those points. I'll start with your first point about the planning academy. It's being developed in conjunction with Cardiff business school and I'm happy to say that the programme for learning does seek to reach a broader range of professionals within the national health service.
I think it's fair to point out that this year is the first year we've had primary care clusters developing their own IMTPs, their own plans, and that's actually a significant step forward, which tells you something about the developing maturity of those clusters. But also we're expecting that within those plans there'll be a variance in what they have in them. Some of that will be about understanding the needs of local population; some of that will be about the varying levels of maturity and ability to forecast and plan for the future. But I think it's really important we've had those as the next stage in the development of clusters, but equally they're going to underpin, and they're being provided now to help inform the health board level IMTPs as well, rather than trying to do them at entirely different times. It would have been a nonsense if you'd had a cluster IMTP coming in after the health board had already published what it said it was going to do for the next three years anyway. So, we're trying to get our system lined up in the right sequential order to take advantage of that and to see the improvement that we'll need and want to make.
On your point about the amber review, I am committed to coming back to Members to update on progress made on the amber review, and that will include the unfinished work that is going on with stakeholders about measures around stroke units. It's not complete, but I'll happily make sure that I update Members when there is a proper update to give. So, it certainly hasn't been forgotten or wished away.
I'm delighted that you mentioned what was initially called, for a while, the Wales flying doctors service. Of course, it's more than just doctors. We have a range of different professionals who go up in helicopters, but also some of the all-terrain vehicles we have access to as well for the emergency medical and retrieval service. And it has been a real success. It's helped us to recruit and retain staff here in Wales. People have made a definite move to come here to Wales because of that service. I've met a number of those people who would otherwise not be here. And it is helpful both from a research and improvement point of view in any event in terms of our access to emergency care in particular. But I think the point you make is about faster access to better care, because it's not just having lots of gadgets, it's about getting people to the right care, getting the right care to them initially and then getting them to where the right care is, whether that's a district general hospital or a tertiary centre, whether it's Morriston if someone requires the burns unit, or indeed in the future when people are going to be taken to the major trauma centre being developed in Cardiff. So, that is definitely part of the planning that already takes place now, and I'm delighted that you've raised the real success story that NHS Wales should definitely celebrate.