Background
1. The Health and Social Care Committee (“the Committee”) has been set up by the Senedd to look at policy and legislation, and to hold the Welsh Government to account on the physical, mental and public health and well-being of the people of Wales, including the social care system.
2. This document sets out our strategic approach to our work in the Sixth Senedd.
How we developed our strategy
3. We undertook a range of activities to inform the development of our strategic approach for the Sixth Senedd:
§ Between July and September 2021, we consulted stakeholders and the public on priorities for the Sixth Senedd.
§ On 23 September 2021, we received an update on the COVID-19 pandemic from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, the Chief Scientific Adviser for Health, and the Welsh Government’s Technical Advisory Cell, and held a scrutiny session with the Welsh Government Ministers with responsibility for health and social services.
§ On 7 October 2021, we held a private discussion with academics with expertise in issues emerging in respect of COVID recovery.
§ On 21 October 2021, we held an externally-facilitated strategic planning session.
Our vision for health and social care
4. Our vision for health and social care over the next five years is:
§ A post-COVID reset, which results in:
§ All people in Wales living longer and healthier lives.
§ A health and social care system that is working more effectively than it was before the pandemic.
§ People who use health and care systems knowing which services to access to meet their needs, and having a more positive experience.
5. Achieving this vision will require:
§ Better integration between health and social care.
§ Progress in reforming social care, including greater sustainability of social care services.
§ Increased levels of health literacy and signposting between services.
§ Improved access to mental health services, especially for young people and people with the most acute needs.
§ Progress in addressing workforce shortages across health and social care, including the development of the primary care workforce and services so that people are able to access appropriate expertise close to home.
§ Higher morale across the health and social care workforce.
§ Improved self-management and self-care of chronic conditions.
§ Improved standards and practice in relation to women’s health.
Our role
6. Our role is to drive change through influencing the Welsh Government and the health and social care sector.
7. We will do this by:
§ Maintaining a sense of cross-party common purpose towards our shared vision, while recognising and respecting that Members will have different political perspectives.
§ Keeping a priority issue or issues on the Government’s agenda, or pushing an issue or issues up the agenda, through inquiries, general scrutiny, informal discussions with the Minister, seeking briefings from the Welsh Government, correspondence, monitoring the implementation of recommendations, Members’ own questions or contributions in Plenary etc.
§ Identifying barriers to implementation or change, and how such barriers might be addressed, and following up work to see whether the barriers have been addressed. This might also include more systematically scrutinising Welsh Government responses, and following up where responses are not sufficiently clear, robust or comprehensive.
§ Planning work in sufficient time to provide clarity for stakeholders, enable relationships to be built with people whose voices might not otherwise be heard, and to make best use of resources and time, while also retaining sufficient flexibility and capacity to enable us to respond to emerging or topical issues.
§ Putting aside time periodically to reflect on progress made towards the overarching vision, what contribution we have made, and what further actions we could take to drive progress.
Cross-cutting issues
8. The following themes will run through all of our work:
§
Putting people at the heart of health and social care
For example, who is affected by policies or decisions; different
impacts on different groups or communities; how people are
communicated with, engaged, consulted or involved.
§
Innovating for improvement
For example, alignment with
the Welsh Government’s transformation agenda; innovation in
processes, technology, equipment, training and attitudes; barriers;
evidence-basis; evaluation, sharing and rollout; funding; risk
appetite and the balance of safety and innovation; accountability
and drive; agility; the alignment of aspiration and
implementation.
§
The health and social care workforce
For example, capacity; training and retraining; embedding
innovation in workforce planning and development; staff morale and
wellbeing.
§
Health inequalities and inequities
For example, the differences in health outcomes and access to
services across different groups, communities, socioeconomic groups
or geographic areas.
§
Delivering a post-pandemic reset
For example, considering how things were before the pandemic, how
they were affected by the pandemic, and what we want the situation
to be.
Priority issues
9. We have identified the following priority issues. We will keep these lists under review throughout the Senedd.
Year one of the Sixth Senedd (2021-22)
§ COVID: watching brief on the pandemic, and post-COVID reset.
§ Health and social care workforce, including training; recruitment; retention; needs; training places; culture of innovation and improvement; and senior leadership (for example through pre-appointment hearings or scrutiny sessions.
§ Impact of the waiting times backlog.
§ Patient flow through hospitals, with an initial focus on hospital discharge.
§ Mental health.
§ Winter planning for health and social care.
§ Scrutiny of the Welsh Government’s draft budget 2022-23.
Potential priorities for years two to five of the Sixth Senedd (2022-26)
§ Primary care, including widening understanding of the range of services, signposting, unconscious bias, and health literacy.
§ The promotion of healthy lifestyles and prevention.
§ Women’s health.
§ Rehabilitation services.
§ Access to services for long-term chronic conditions.
§ Tackling health inequalities.
§ Social care integration and funding.
§ Support and services for unpaid carers.
§ The pandemic and post-COVID reset.
How we will work
10. We have agreed that we will:
§ Build relationships to facilitate constructive collaboration and influence.
§ Listen to lived experience, including undertaking visits once the public health situation allows.
§ Be alert to our meetings and flexible in our meeting times.
§ Hold hybrid meetings by default.