Assembly Committee concerned by lack of detail in Welsh health boards’ winter plans
20 December 2013
A National Assembly for Wales Committee says it isn’t confident that Welsh health boards are fully prepared for the coming winter months and the extra strain which is likely to be put on services.
The Health and Social Care Committee found that, by the beginning of November, only three out of seven health boards in Wales had published unscheduled care plans in preparation for the anticipated increase in the use of health services during the winter.
In a letter to the Minister for Health and Social Services the Committee raises concerns that, in some cases, published plans amounted to little more than bullet point summaries. Only Cwm Taf Health Board had released a detailed strategy.
Winter pressures mean that 2,600 operations were cancelled in the Welsh NHS last winter because of a lack of beds. For 2013-14, health boards have declared a ‘surge capacity’ of around 460 beds – beds that they do not have now, but that they will be able to open if needed.
The Committee has called for that capacity figure to be broken down by health board to get a better picture around the country. Furthermore, the Committee has asked for further detail on what consideration is being given for surge capacity in the community as well as in the hospital setting.
It is also concerned that no Accident and Emergency department in Wales currently meets the College of Emergency Medicine’s standards for consultant presence in emergency departments. The Committee wants to know how the Welsh Government intends to address that.
“Everyone acknowledges that the winter months put an enormous strain on our health services,” said David Rees AM, Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee.
“In 2012-13 the winter extended to May, placing extended winter pressure on our health and social services and the Committee recognises that plans to cope with such prolonged, extreme circumstances are difficult to form. However, given the experiences of last winter, we expected health boards in Wales to be better prepared this time around but the evidence we heard does not make us entirely confident that that is the case.
“We want to see a lot more detail in unscheduled care plans and a much more accurate picture of what extra capacity is available in each health board and in the community.
“The fact that no Accident and Emergency department in Wales currently meets the College of Emergency Medicine’s standards for consultant presence in emergency departments is also concerning, and we are asking the Welsh Government what it intends to do to address that.”
The Committee will follow up its letter with another examination of unscheduled care in April next year.