Morning, Tuesday, 25th March 2025
Online
This conference will assess key priorities for improving healthcare provision and patient outcomes in Wales.
Stakeholders and policymakers will discuss the way forward following the Welsh Government’s announcement of a refreshed set of actions to support the delivery of A Healthier Wales, including strategies for tackling NHS waiting times.
Discussion is expected on next steps for improving service delivery, opportunities for moving towards a preventive model of care and issues surrounding healthcare inequalities and access as outlined in the Bevan Commission’s Evidence Review, The Foundations for the Future Model of Health and Care in Wales. Delegates will assess key issues in relation to recommendations for a shift to community-based care and stronger collaboration between health services in order to redress existing disparities in access and care outcomes.
The agenda will also bring out latest thinking on the role of digital transformation in healthcare, following the long-term Organisational Development Strategy 2024-2030 from Digital Health and Care Wales. Sessions will explore progress made on expanding digital health record and prescribing technology, as well as what will be need to achieve the five key missions from the strategy.
Further sessions will assess practical steps for workforce development and sustainability, with a focus on the implementation of HEIW’s Strategic Workforce Plan for Primary Care. Delegates will examine the impact of recent agency workforce reduction measures, strategies for addressing recruitment and retention challenges, and opportunities for high-quality training and development.
Overall, planned areas of discussion in the agenda include:
- A Healthier Wales: evaluating progress toward key objectives - strategies to alleviate NHS waiting times - options for improving access to care - priorities for enhancing care delivery
- digital transformation: priorities following the long-term Organisational Strategy - driving digital innovation in healthcare - expanding digital health records - using technology to improve patient outcomes
- integrated health services:
- addressing the National Framework for Social Prescribing - its role in improving holistic care through community-based support
- pathways for collaboration between health and social care to provide more sustainable, integrated services
- workforce development and sustainability:
- implementation of Strategic Workforce Plan for Primary Care - addressing recruitment and retention challenges - opportunities for high-quality training and development for the workforce
- outcomes from recent agency workforce reduction measures to reduce reliance on agency staff - impact of the opening of the North Wales Medical School
- assessing outcomes of the agreement with the Kerala Government to recruit 250 healthcare professional
- healthcare inequalities and access disparities:
- addressing findings from the Bevan Commission Evidence Review on disparities in healthcare access
- strategies to address disparities, particularly through community-based care and improved integration of services
- prevention: developing a more preventative health system to reduce future strain on services - addressing growing healthcare demands of an aging population, as well as high rates of obesity and diabetes
