Jane Dodds has called on the Welsh Government to set clear targets as part of their cross-border care plans to cut down on NHS waiting lists.
Video from Senedd.tv
Video from Senedd.tv
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00:00an efficient system in Wales first.
00:02Jayne Dodds AM, First Minister.
00:06Just following up on the question from James Evans there, and just wanting to concentrate,
00:11if I may, on elective treatments for patients in Brecon and Radnorshire who do go across
00:18the border.
00:19We're actually quite used to going to, for example, Hereford hospital for our treatment,
00:24and I'm pleased to hear that this will be bolstered after the announcement from the
00:30Labour conference, and I think backed up by the Welsh Secretary, Jo Stevens.
00:35So, you've appointed a group of experts to help with bringing down waiting lists here
00:41in Wales, but could I ask you specifically, please, how will that work in terms of the
00:48cross-border arrangements that were announced, and what targets do you have, and in what
00:55timescales do you have, in order to reduce the waiting lists, particularly for people
01:02living on the border as in Brecon and Radnorshire?
01:04Diolch yn fawr iawn.
01:05Jane Hutt AM, First Minister.
01:06Well, thanks very much.
01:07Well, as you say, we have got this group of experts now who've been appointed, and if
01:11you look at their CVs you'll see that these are genuine experts, people who want to help
01:16us out.
01:17One of the people on that group is the person who's presented and introduced the GERFT approach
01:23to best practice, that is, get it right first time, and that really looks at how we optimise
01:32work within our hospitals, and they go into hospitals, they tell them what they can do
01:38to tweak things, and that's precisely what we're talking about.
01:42There are hospitals in England where this has been introduced as working really well,
01:47there are some hospitals in Wales that have introduced part of it, but not all of it,
01:51so what we're hoping is this group will come in and specialise, look at how you can do
01:57that, how you can bring best practice and introduce it into Wales.
02:01And, of course, that cross-border work, as I mentioned earlier, 60,000 Welsh residents
02:06already going to England, I'm sure that that will continue as well.