In July 2013 we made a commitment to review and update the Standards for Health Services in Wales and the Fundamentals of Care Standards. This is part of knowledge gained from the Francis Inquiry and our commitment to deliver safe and compassionate care to all those who use NHS services.
This consultation
We are consulting on integrating the 26 Standards for Health Services in Wales and the 12 Fundamentals of Care Standards into 7 Quality Themes and 24 Health Standards.
The 7 Quality Themes are:
- staying healthy
- safe care
- effective care
- dignified care
- timely care
- individual care
- staff and resources.
We also want the new Health Standards to:
- be owned and prioritised appropriately to meet the individual needs of the organisations and services giving the opportunity to align with the social services, public health and NHS outcome frameworks
- promote the rights of children in line with the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, and the Declaration of Rights for Older People
- align to national policy and strategy
- be informed by recommendations from reviews such as the Francis Inquiry, and quality and safety reviews in Wales.
HEALTH STANDARDS FRAMEWORK
On the 9 July 2013 a plenary debate took place relating to learning from the Francis Inquiry. A Ministerial commitment was made in “Delivering Safe Care, Compassionate Care, Learning for Wales from the Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry”, http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dhss/report/130710safecarefen.pdf to review and update the Standards for Health Services in Wales and the Fundamentals of Care Standards.
Every person in Wales who needs to use health services or supports others, whether it is in a hospital, in the community or in their own home has the right to receive excellent quality care. The NHS in Wales needs to demonstrate that it is doing the right thing, in the right way, in the right place, at the right time and with the right staff.
What is proposed?
The draft Health Standards Framework has been developed following an extensive process involving a review of the international and national evidence, engagement with key stakeholders and the establishment of a Project Team. Questionnaire analysis was conducted in March 2014 asking people and organisations what they thought about the current standards and what they would like to see in the revised standards. Also a total of 182 delegates attended engagement events across Wales, representing health care, social care, voluntary sector, inspectorate, regulator, and patient representative bodies. The 7 Quality Themes identified in the draft Health Standards Framework were developed following the Talk Care Events in 2013 which was part of a programme of work speaking to people about what was important to them.
The review of the Standards for Health Services in Wales and the Fundamentals of Care Standards provides an opportunity to align standards in healthcare for the NHS. The Health Standards have been designed so that they can be implemented in all health care services, settings and locations. This means that organisations can use the Health Standards to continuously improve the quality and safety of their care by assessing and managing the performance of their services, and those provided on their behalf, against the Health Standards for Wales.
Within the Independent Healthcare Sector the National Minimum Standards www.hiw.org.uk/opendoc/234735 will also apply to all registered services including those that provide NHS funded treatment and care. Quality standards for registered care and support providers will be issued under the Social Services Regulation and Inspection Bill, which will be introduced to the National Assembly for Wales in early 2015. These quality standards will be laid out in regulations. The statutory quality standards will be underpinned by a code which will provide guidance for service providers in respect of providing evidence of performance.
What do we want to change?
In order for people in Wales to understand what to expect when they access health services and what their responsibilities are, there is a need to develop a clear revised set of health standards which will aim to drive continuous improvements in quality over the longer term.
There will be one integrated Health Standards Framework collating and streamlining the former 26 Standards for Health Services in Wales and the 12 Fundamentals of Care Standards.
In Wales like other countries there are many examples of good health care however there are examples of people who use health services being let down by the quality and safety of the service they receive. Therefore it is important that the development of the new Health Standards Framework for Wales is developed and owned by people who deliver services and people who use them.
We want the Health Standards to:
- embrace the principles of co-production and prudent health care
- offer a common language to describe what high quality, safe and reliable healthcare services look like
- can be used by people of all ages to understand what high quality safe healthcare should be and what they should expect from a well-run service.
- enable a person-centred approach by focusing on outcomes for service users and driving care which places people at the centre of all that the service does
- create a basis for improving the quality and safety of healthcare services by identifying strengths and highlighting areas for improvement
- can be used in day-to-day practice to encourage a consistent level of quality and safety across the country and across all services
- promote practice that is up to date, effective, and consistent
- promote accountability to service users, the public and funding agencies for the quality and safety of services by setting out how providers should organise, deliver and improve services enable people to be responsible for their own health and well-being
- recognise the quality standards for other care and support providers issued under the Social Services Regulation and Inspection Bill
