Welsh NHS Confederation responds to Bevan Commission report on 'A conversation with the public'
Responding to the Bevan Commission’s report A Conversation with the Public: Challenges and Opportunities for Change, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation Darren Hughes said:
“We welcome the Bevan Commission’s report and the work that has gone into it. We know the public have an enduring faith in the NHS and its founding principles of providing care to all, free at the point of need, but findings provide a greater understanding of the public’s view of the two-way transformation needed between healthcare and the public.
“Many of the emerging themes in the report are aligned with the priorities identified in the Welsh NHS Confederation’s report for the NHS at 75, which examined how we meet the needs of future generations. This includes prevention and early intervention, the wider determinants of health, care in the community, workforce challenges and reshaping the public’s relationship with the NHS and their own wellbeing.
“We must take this opportunity to co-produce and redesign services to ensure they better meet the changing needs of the population, so that services remain sustainable in the future. This includes the NHS supporting people to make decisions about looking after themselves and staying independent, ensuring they have access to the most appropriate care to meet their particular need.
“However, we must not forget that the NHS does not have all the levers to improve the health and wellbeing of the population: access to healthcare only accounts for around 10 per cent of a population’s health, with the rest shaped by socio-economic factors. All sectors have a role to play in creating a preventative model and collectively we need to create the economic, social and natural environment in Wales to support good health and wellbeing throughout the life-course.
“We look forward to engaging with the Bevan Commission on the next phase of this work to help build a sustainable healthcare system for the future.”
