November 2020
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference focuses on next steps for raising the quality of health and social care in Wales.
The discussion at a glance:
Implementation of key new legislation and the implications for stakeholders, looking at:
- the future for inspection and regulation
- workforce recruitment, development, and support
- governance and transparency of health boards
- enhancing the voice of patients
How the COVID-19 crisis has affected health and social care in Wales, including the latest thinking on:
- the resilience of the health and social care system
- the effectiveness of crisis response
- the long-term implications for policy in Wales
- resources, with new funding made available by the Welsh Government
The discussion in detail:
Quality and engagement
- improving governance, transparency, and patient outcomes across services at health boards - examining measures in the Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act
- risk management, roles for leaders and directorates, scrutiny, and organisational culture and the management of concerns - assessing recommendations from the HIW and Audit Wales joint review on governance at Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB, and their wider implications
Empowering patients
- information, advice, and assistance for service users - assessing measures in the new Act aimed at improving effectiveness
Workforce issues and delivering higher quality care
- meeting skills needs challenges
- care improvement and identifying a future social care model - in the context of proposals in the Quality and Engagement and NHS Indemnities Acts
- integration - further options for health and social care services
- training and development - future delivery, including priorities for changes to training and upskilling to support improvements in the delivery of care
The COVID-19 pandemic
- the conference follows publication of Government’s Winter Protection Plan, setting out work needed within health and social care, as well as with partners and stakeholders
- safety and wellbeing of staff, patients and service users
- disabled people - following analysis carried out on higher mortality rates in England and Wales
- people from a BAME background - with
- racism, disadvantage and lack of representation in decision-making cited as factors in negative outcomes from COVID-19
- launch of a risk assessment tool aimed at supporting and protecting BAME workers
- COVID-19 BAME Socio-economic Sub Group report: Welsh Government response - and development of the Race Equality Action Plan
- older people
- the Older People’s Commissioner calling for an investigation into whether older people’s rights were sufficiently protected during the pandemic
- concerns about the proportion of people who have died from COVID-19 that had dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, and reports that Government have prioritised the Dementia action plan 2018 to 2022 in response to the pandemic
- further key issues:
- testing for critical workers and the Welsh Government’s new testing strategy
- liaison between Government, councils and local resilience forums, and transitions between health and care settings
- monitoring and reporting, and use of technology
Relevant background:
- Further support for NHS organisations from the Welsh Government - £800m to prepare for a potential second COVID-19 wave as well as normal winter pressures, ensuring hospital capacity, PPE, a flu campaign, and faster test results - and £22.7m to support the care sector with vacancies and other financial pressures
- The Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act, which includes:
- creation of a citizen voice body to replace Community Health Councils
- a duty of candour for NHS bodies
- complaints and investigations - Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act measures aimed at making the process easier and allowing the Ombudsman proactively to initiate some investigations
- costs of indemnity - in light of increases, steps for the Welsh Government to protect professionals set out in the National Health Service (Indemnities) (Wales) Act
- fees and tax policy - Welsh Government considering taxes to pay for increasing care costs and improve care quality, with money raised going to abolishing care fees or improving care worker’s pay
- remaining challenges - found by Audit Wales including ensuring consistent provision across Wales, carers’ support, and improving awareness and accessibility of available multilingual information
- Health, Social Care and Sport Committee recommendations - on PPE supply and distribution, staff and population testing, medicines delivery, contact tracing staffing, and adult social care funding
The agenda:
- The way forward for raising the quality of health and social care
- Developing the governance and transparency of health boards and enhancing the voice of patients
- Medical Regulation: looking to the future
- Improving inspection and the regulation system in Wales
- The workforce, delivering higher quality care, and the impact of COVID-19 - support for health and social care professionals, recruitment, and development
- The Quality and Engagement Act - assessing the potential impact on improving care and outcomes for patients and service users
Policy officials attending:
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders. Places have been reserved by a range of officials from the Welsh Government and the Senedd Cymru, as well as from Healthcare Inspectorate Wales; Academi Wales; Audit Wales; the Welsh Revenue Authority; HMPPS; the Office for National Statistics; and the Health & Safety Executive. Also due to attend are representatives from Age Alliance Wales; BLM; Bridgend County Borough Council; British Academy of Audiology; British Heart Foundation Cymru; British Red Cross; BSR; Caerphilly Council; Carers Trust Wales; Carers Wales; Carmarthenshire Youth & Children's Association; Ceredigion County Council; Dementia UK; Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales; General Medical Council; General Medical Council Wales; Greater Gwent Citizen Panel; Hafod Care; Healthcare Inspectorate Wales; Health Education and Improvement Wales; Kidney Cancer UK; Leonard Cheshire; Linc Cymru; Ludlow Street Healthcare; Marie Curie; MSD; National Collaborative Commissioning NHS Wales; Older People's Commissioner for Wales' Office; Orbis Education and Care; Public Services Ombudsman for Wales; RCN Wales; Royal Voluntary Service; Rural Health and Care Wales; Sancta Maria Hospital; South Wales Fire & Rescue Service; Spire Healthcare; Swansea Bay University Health Board; The National Autistic Society; The Nursing and Midwifery Council; The Rutherford Cancer Centre; University of South Wales; Wales Centre for Public Policy; Welsh Ambulance Service; Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Welsh Health Specialised Services Commissioning.
A press pass has been reserved by a representative from the British Medical Association.
This is a full-scale conference taking place online***
- full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording to refer back to
- information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
- conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
- speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
- opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
- a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
- delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
- networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!
Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before
