Marie Curie response to new Clinical Governance Frameworks in Wales

Today the Welsh Government has made a series of announcements around the potential future organisation of NHS Wales. It has launched its plans for a new Clinical Governance Framework for service delivery which will see the introduction of a new NHS Executive linking other NHS bodies through its national programmes and networks. As part of this Clinical Framework a series of policy intentions have been laid out in new Quality Statements to plan for services in specific clinical areas. The Framework also outlines a series of new Programmes, one of which is to be End of Life Care.

Marie Curie has been calling for the introduction of a new accountable governance and implementation framework that works towards eliminating variation across Wales, ensuring that everyone in Wales has equitable access to palliative care and support when needed.

Lowri Griffiths, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for Marie Curie in Wales said:

"Marie Curie welcomes the announcement of the new NHS Clinical Framework and the development of a new approach to NHS governance in Wales.

"For many years NHS services in Wales have struggled to organise themselves to best meet the challenges around balancing day to day services delivery and creating the space to innovate new service models. The new Clinical Framework and proposed new NHS Executive should go a long way to NHS Wales transforming itself to become a forward looking and modern service that the people of Wales deserve.

"We also welcome a fresh approach to delivering NHS palliative and end of life care services. Recently we have seen too many incidents of poor end of life experiences, many of which have been exposed due to the devastating impact that COVID has had on our communities.

"A new End of Life Care Programme is welcome and we would expect whichever Government who enters Cathays Park in May to accelerate the development of this or a similar programme and put in place a robust and fully costed action plan to ensure that the people of Wales get the best possible dying, death and bereavement experience.

"One important element of this programme of work will be the bereavement framework that is being launched for consultation today alongside these announcements. This framework, supported and developed by the Marie Curie Research Centre at Cardiff University is an excellent example of how Wales can respond to the issue of dying and bereavement. It really does show that we are leading the world in becoming the first truly Compassionate Country."

Read Marie Curie's manifesto calls for the next Parliamentary Term here