An end to health service re-organisation, continuing action to reduce waiting times, a new focus on primary care, enabling patients to see their GPs in the evenings and at weekends, and public investment in the air ambulance service are just some of a progressive and innovative set of health policies that will be unveiled later today by Welsh Labour Leadership candidate, Carwyn Jones.
Carwyn will make public his forward-looking policy statement to improve the NHS in Wales by saying:
“The NHS has looked after my family well, and continues to do so. I love the NHS and will defend it against any attack. It is a service for the people, and I am proud that in government in Wales we have delivered real and lasting improvements for patients in Wales.
“My agenda for Welsh Labour will focus firmly on the issues that matter to ordinary people – continually improving healthcare, with better access to GP services, and working with staff and their unions to improve areas like the Ambulance service.
“I want to deliver more convenient services for patients – making access easier, enabling patients to see their GPs in the evenings and at weekends, and make it possible to book an appointment online. I want to see GPs surgeries to be electronically linked to hospitals – for Wales to learn from the e-referral system currently operating in Scotland.”
Promising to deliver what he calls, “common-sense solutions” for the NHS under his Leadership, Carwyn will pledge to remove red tape when it gets in the way of patient care and improvements to services, by saying:
“Health professionals tell me that our systems for scrutiny of capital investment are slowing down investment decisions. I will lead a programme to cut through the bureaucracy.”
Underlining his ambition to be a ‘Leader for the whole of Wales’, Carwyn will make it clear to people in North Wales that borders will not be a barrier when it comes to offering patients access the best healthcare the NHS can provide. He will say:
“Under my leadership we will continue to work in partnership with the rest of the UK – for example, while we want the strongest health services in Wales, we must also acknowledge how for example cross-border health provision is critical to excellent services provided to Welsh patients, particularly in North Wales.”
Carwyn, who was born in Morriston Hospital in Swansea, will also make clear to people in West and Mid Wales his commitment to rapid accident and emergency care “To ensure those in isolated rural areas in West and North Wales in particular can be confident that they can receive an emergency response fast in cases where an immediate response is needed, such as brain or spinal damage, my government will look at proper investment in the Air Ambulance service.”
Committing himself to drawing a line under further re-organisation of the NHS in Wales, Carwyn will say:
“The health service in Wales has been through substantial re-organisation. Too frequent re-organisation damages staff morale and reduces operational effectiveness. Decisions in health must be carefully thought through. I will not introduce wholesale re-organisation on my watch, but work with staff and unions in the interest of patients.”
Other pledges contained within Carwyn’s policy statement are a pledge to:
- reward NHS staff for implementing new ideas and developing an all-Wales innovation team to spread good practice;
- re-focus ways of tackling diagnostic waits to speed up treatment, and ensure hospital operating theatres are used at weekends in more places to make the best use of our investments;
- deliver solutions to the Ambulance Service problems through working with staff and their unions;
- have more focus on tackling delayed discharges of care. Elderly people in particular are frustrated at being kept in hospital because the care services are not in place at home. Equally, people should not be kept unnecessarily in hospital for tests if they are fit enough to leave – they should not lose their place on the waiting list as a result;
- to initiate a review of residential care for older people to try and reduce the real concerns that families have in paying for care costs;
- take action to implement our commitment to develop not-for-profit nursing homes;
- have a higher priority for mental health services, which are particularly important during an economic crisis as the pressures of stress at work and unemployment come into focus; and
- deliver faster response times to emergencies. To ensure those in isolated rural areas in West and North Wales in particular can be confident that they can receive an emergency response fast in cases where an immediate response is needed, such as brain or spinal damage, my government will look at proper investment in the Air Ambulance service.
