WIREDGOV

The Welsh Government’s five-year plans to improve the care for people with major conditions, including cancer and heart disease, will be extended for a further four years to ensure services continue to improve, Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething has announced.

The Welsh Government’s health strategy, Together for Health, published in 2011, set a five-year vision for the Welsh NHS and its partners and included the creation of delivery plans for major conditions.

Each major condition has its own delivery plan, which has been developed by clinicians, patients and advocates for excellent care. They outline the actions which will be taken to improve patient outcomes, patient experience and services.

These plans provide a focus for activity in relation to major conditions. Successes from the work can be seen in:

• More people are surviving cancer than ever before
• Heart disease survival rates are improving and fewer people are dying prematurely from coronary heart disease thanks to improved detection and the ban on smoking in public places
• The number of people dying from stroke has fallen by 1,000 a year
• More people are surviving life-threatening injuries and illnesses as a result of the specialist care they receive in critical care units in Welsh hospitals
• The number of emergency admissions for stroke, heart disease and diabetes is falling as a result of better management in the community
• Wales is the only country to provide 24/7 consultant-led specialist palliative care advice and support to healthcare professionals caring for people approaching the end of their lives. Ninety-three per cent of the responses to the iWantGreatCare patients’ evaluation of their experience of specialist palliative care were positive. The average score was 9.5 out of 10.

Most of the delivery plans are due to end in 2016. They will now be extended until March 2020 to ensure services continue to improve.

Each plan will be reviewed and refreshed at the end of its current cycle by the respective delivery plan implementation groups. This will enable the plans to reflect any new national priorities after the National Assembly elections in May 2016 and the Welsh Government’s new Prudent Healthcare Plan, which will be published in January 2016.

In 2016, the cancer, heart disease, diabetes, end-of-life care, critically ill and stroke delivery plans will all be reviewed and refreshed. The respiratory and neurological conditions plans will be reviewed in 2017, with the primary care, oral health and eye health plans following in 2018. The liver disease delivery plan is due to end in 2020.

Earlier this year, the Deputy Minister announced £10m will be invested in the deliver plans to improve NHS services for major conditions – 10 of the implementation groups received £1m each to invest in key priorities.

Mr Gething said:

“These plans are making a real difference for people in Wales. More people are surviving cancer than ever before; survival from heart disease has improved and the number of people dying from stroke has fallen by 1,000 a year.

“We are committed to the continued implementation of delivery plans, which have been successful in providing direction to the NHS, local government and third sector partner activity, driving transparency and shifting focus to patient outcomes.

“My decision to extend the lifetime of the delivery plans by a further four years will provide the Welsh NHS and its partners with the direction they need to continue working to deliver real improvements to the health services we all rely on.”