Access to Cancer Treatments

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 24 March 2021.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:12, 24 March 2021

Well, we have actually already started on the path of improving outcomes for people with cancer. If you look at not just the numbers but improving outcomes in Wales, we've kept pace with other parts of the UK, and, bearing in mind that Wales is an older, poorer part of the UK, you would expect to see a potential gap in that improvement in outcomes. That shows the progress we've made. You'll also be aware of the choice that I have made to have a more transparent approach to understanding where we are on delivering people the care they need with the new single cancer pathway, and I think that will lead to improvements. We've worked on that with both cancer clinicians and the Wales Cancer Alliance.

We signalled in 'A Healthier Wales' that quality statements would be the next stage in making sure that separate delivery plans are sat within the centre of accountability, planning and progress within our organisations. So, the quality statement sets out the outcomes and expected standards that we will see. It's not intended to be a delivery plan, an operational plan in itself. There will, though, be an implementation plan developed in the coming months, with the Wales Cancer Alliance and clinicians contributing and taking part in that. The NHS exec will then ensure that that is delivered in the central part of where health boards deliver as well. Part of our challenge was in having a separate plan, separate to the other planning and implementation processes within the health service. This will make sure that cancer services are in the centre of that, and clearer accountability. So, you can expect to see the implementation detail from health-board level plans, from Velindre plans, and also from national oversight as well. So, you'll see two parts in taking this forward to replace the previous delivery programme, and I believe that will reinforce the ambition we all have for high-quality cancer care, and I believe that will be a trusted way to deal with the improvement we all want to see in cancer services and outcomes.