What action is being taken to ensure Local Health Boards consistently meet the agreed targets for neurology services, including those set out within relevant NICE guidelines?
We published the Quality Statement for Neurological Conditions in November 2021 and our aim remains to ensure that people of all ages, living with or affected by a neurological condition, have timely and equitable access to high quality services, enabling them to live their best lives.
I expect NHS organisations to use the quality statement as the basis for planning how services are developed and delivered. They are responsible for the planning and delivery of high-quality services to meet the needs of their population in line with relevant clinical standards and guidance, including those published by the National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness.
NHS organisations are supported to implement the aims set out in the quality statement by NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and the National Strategic Clinical Network for Neurological Conditions (NSCNNC). The NSCNNC has prioritised the development of a National Epilepsy Patient Reported Outcome Measures Tool in 2025-26 and the production of epilepsy dashboard summary reports to support health boards to determine areas for improvement.
We are committed to tackling health inequalities so everyone has the same life chances and the same life expectancies. We continue to take cross-government action to address health inequalities in Wales through our Health in All Policies approach to tackle the wider determinants of health.
The use of Health Impact Assessments supports this approach. Draft regulations to mandate the use of Health Impact Assessments by specified public bodies in certain circumstances have been laid before the Senedd and will be voted on in November.
A Healthier Wales is our long-term plan for health and social care in Wales. A refreshed set of actions was published in December 2024. One of the fundamental principles underpinning the plan is to reduce health inequalities by ensuring equality of access to the health and social care system to achieve equity of outcomes.
We have made the ground-breaking commitment to become a Marmot Nation, putting health equity at the heart of policy across Welsh Government. This acknowledges that health inequalities are primarily determined by social factors – the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
Professor Sir Michael Marmot's extensive research demonstrates that addressing the social determinants of health and galvanising organisations around a shared focus on health equity can help improve health and wellbeing for all.