Andrew Davies, the Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery, will tell a conference of public service providers that Wales needs the X factor of enthusiasm, energy and drive to meet the challenges ahead.
Speaking at the annual Local Service Board conference in Llandudno, the Minister will call for a “Team Wales” approach to tackling “the enormous challenge of delivering services and outcomes for the citizens and communities of Wales against a background of tighter public finances and increasing public expectations”.
The Minister will say:
“The people of Wales deserve excellent and efficient public services.
“We have to work more effectively than ever before at local, regional and national levels. We have a shared vision –public services which are citizen-centred and effective with better outcomes for citizens and communities.
“We have to deliver this vision; we owe it to our citizens. This message must be heard loud and clear from everyone, in every part of Wales.
“I am today announcing that I have re-opened the “Invest-2-Save” Fund for new applications. Investments from the fund will support public service organisations in transforming the way they work.”
Local Service Boards were set up as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s response to the Beecham report on improving public services and there is now an LSB in every local authority area with over 90 local service board projects.
The Welsh Assembly Government has invested £2.5 million to support LSBs and help them deliver their projects and subject to the final budget, will continue to support all LSBs next year with a £50,000 development support grant.
Some of the examples of good practice the Minister will be highlighting today are:
- Cardiff LSB has reduced delayed transfers of care from a peak of 161 patients to 60.
- Carmarthenshire LSB has ‘saved’ 10,000 bed days by more effective management of delayed transfers of care. This means more people are being helped to live independently in their own homes rather than entering long term care institutions.
- The Gwynedd LSB project “Partners in Care” has led to a 10% reduction in patients with chronic conditions requiring unplanned hospital admission.
- Wrexham LSB has been leading a project to improve the emotional health and well-being of children.
- Neath Port Talbot LSB have piloted a lifestyle coaches project which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people aged 50+, with chronic musculo-skeletal conditions, by supporting them to make the best use of their own and the community’s resources.
- Partnership working in RCT on tackling domestic abuse.
The Minister will also be announcing the launch of the good practice Wales web portal.
“The portal provides a single point of access to a wide range of examples of good practice available across public services in Wales. The portal will be further enhanced over the months ahead and shows just what public services can achieve when working together. The cost for establishing the portal is £59 – which shows that innovation and improvement need not be about spending vast sums of money!
“Partnership with a purpose is the Welsh way – our collective challenge is to make it work. I want the leaders of public services in other countries to be coming to Wales to see how we have risen to the challenge of tougher times – delivering more with less by working together.”
