What consideration is the Cabinet Minister giving to reducing variations in service provision between health boards, including in audiology services, in order to provide a more seamless, consistent and comparable standard of care across Wales?
Local health boards are responsible for planning and delivering services to meet the needs of their populations. NHS Performance & Improvement , national clinical programmes and service networks support health boards to reduce unwarranted variation, improve quality, and provide more consistent access to care across Wales, including in audiology services. This aligns with our wider planned care improvement work, which focuses on improving outcomes, tackling variation and ensuring people receive timely, high-quality care regardless of where they live.
Our agenda for Government is also predicated on measures to enhance strategic alignment of services across the health and care system – including, as outlined in the First 100 Days plan, reforming Regional Partnership Boards (RPBs) to improve systematic collaboration between health boards