Press release: Audit Commission report provides useful review of progress in tackling big challenges in modernising the NHS in Wales
17 Jul 2003
The Welsh NHS Confederation (1), voice of NHS management in Wales, today welcomed the Audit Commission's report on public services in Wales, saying it gave a useful review of progress on the long-term project of modernising the NHS in Wales (2).
The report provides a "stocktake" of the "challenges and opportunities" facing the Assembly and service providers. It does this in the light of the Assembly's plan for the NHS Improving Health in Wales. This plan, published in 2001, sets out a vision for the NHS over the next 10 years (3).
Director Richard Thomas said:
"We share the view expressed in the Audit Commission report that modernisation should mean a patient-centred NHS, built around good working relationships with partner organisations. Our members are already working to bring this about, and we were pleased to see that examples of good practice were mentioned in the report".
Responding to the report's overall view that the picture of the NHS in Wales was mixed, Mr Thomas continued:
"It's essential to remember two key points: the first is that modernising the NHS in Wales presents enormous challenges. These include rapidly increasing demand and enduring health inequalities, both of which were mentioned in the report (4). Our members are also still living with the legacy of decades of under-investment in capacity and in the basic infrastructure of the NHS - areas such as IT for example.
The second point is that tackling these challenges takes time. Building capacity, training more staff, modernising premises and IT - none of these can happen overnight. The extra investment recently announced for the NHS is very welcome, but that too will take time before it takes effect"
ENDS
Notes for editors
1. The Welsh NHS Confederation is the voice of NHS management in Wales. It is the only membership body for all NHS organisations. Members include every NHS trust and health authority in the country, along with over two-thirds of local health groups. Further information about the Welsh NHS Confederation, and about the work of the Confederation elsewhere in the UK, is on www.nhsconfed.org
2. Public Services in Wales, Audit Commission, 2002
3. Improving Health in Wales - a plan for the NHS with its partners, National Assembly for Wales, 2001.
4. An example of rising demand on the NHS is on page 17: "spending on medicines has increased by almost 40 per cent, in real terms, in the past five years". Details of health inequalities can be found on page 16 of the report.
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