Wales - National standards and key strategies

National standards
Key strategies

National standards

Doing well, doing better – standards for health services in Wales (2010)
This document from the Welsh Assembly Government replaces the Healthcare Standards for Wales published in 2005 and provides an updated framework of standards that came into operation in April 2010. The standards “are key to underpinning the vision, values, governance and accountability framework for the new NHS Wales” and are seen as a key tool, alongside the learning from the 1000 Lives Campaign and other initiatives in helping to drive up clinical quality and patient experience. The standard statements are arranged under 26 standards – key changes include the inclusion of a new standard on dignity and respect, ensuring the rights of children are more prominent and ensuring that carers are recognised. An aim has been to map the standards more closely with service specific and professional standards and quality requirements such as the National Service Frameworks and Cancer standards, the Fundamentals of Care and Substance Misuse Services so that there is potential for a common language across all health services. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales will continue to use these standards to undertake a level of testing and validation against the standards each year but the onus is on organisations and services to demonstrate they are using and meeting the standards on a continuous basis.

For further guidance (currently in draft status) on each of the 26 standards as well as a general overarching guidance document see: Supporting guidance.

National Service Frameworks for Wales
This page links to the National Service Frameworks (NSFs) in Wales. The NSFs in Wales cover; children, coronary heart disease, diabetes, mental health, renal disease and older people.

Fundamentals of Care
Fundamentals of Care provides guidance on the quality of care that service users in Wales may expect from health and social care. It aims to promote standardisation in the quality of care in all care settings across Wales and provides a driver for improving the consistency, quality and delivery of care. Fundamentals of Care describes twelve aspects of care: communication and information; respecting people; ensuring safety; promoting independence; relationships; sleep, rest and activity; ensuring comfort, alleviating pain; personal hygiene, appearance and foot care; eating and drinking; oral health and hygiene; toilet needs; preventing pressure sores. Each area has a set of practice indicators which are drawn from professional standards, national guidelines, research and best practice statements, and each indicator is cross referenced to relevant standard regulations. The indicators act as an audit and quality control tool, and provide mechanisms for commissioning and developing staff training, and for service users to assess the level of care they receive.

Key strategies

You can also find related policy and reports within each of the six themes. View the six themes on the clinical governance homepage.

Together for health: a 5-year vision for the NHS in Wales (2011)
This document, published by the Welsh Assembly Government, presents the vision for the next five years in the context of the current challenges facing the health service and the factors driving the need for reform. It pictures what the NHS in Wales will look like in 2016 and sets out the actions and commitments to achieve a sustainable and ‘world-class’ service. This includes placing primary and community services at the centre of delivery, and a focus on prevention and narrowing of health inequalities. Seven major areas and the actions for these are described.

Fairer health outcomes for all (2011)
This document sets out how Wales can achieve greater equity in health. The key action areas are: building health into all policies and all policies into health; giving every child a healthy start; developing health assets in communities; improving health literacy; making health and social services more equitable; developing a healthy working Wales; and strengthening the evidence base.

National application strategy for Wales (2010)
This strategy document from NHS Wales Informatics Service provides a description of the information services required to support health and social care in Wales and how they will fit together to provide a consistent, safe and secure service for Welsh citizens. It also highlights the importance of the single electronic health care record.

Setting the direction: Primary and community services strategic delivery programme (2010)
'Setting the Direction' recognises the commitment to delivering world-class integrated health care in Wales. This requires a change in the approach to developing both policy and service delivery models for primary and community care.

Our healthy future (2009)
Our Healthy Future sets the foundation for the Welsh Government’s ambitions for public health, with a new approach in tackling gaps in health and wellbeing. It does this by focusing on six action areas: health and wellbeing throughout life; healthy sustainable communities; reduced inequities in health; prevention and early intervention; health as a shared goal and strengthening evidence and monitoring progress. View Our healthy future - summary document.

One Wales: a progressive agenda for the government of Wales (2007)
Published by the Welsh Assembly Government the ‘One Wales’ document is the agreement between the Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru and sets a four year agenda for the government of Wales. Chapter 3 outlines the programme for the health service in Wales which includes: developing and improving Wales’s health services, ensuring access to health care, improving patients’ experience and supporting social care.

One Wales delivery plan 2007-2011
This version of the delivery plan published by the Welsh Assembly Government is dated 31 December 2009. It provides further information on the implementation of the ‘One Wales’ programme detailing what has been completed and actions to be undertaken against each commitment made.

Trust, assurance and safety: the regulation of health professionals in the 21st Century (2007)
This White Paper sets out a programme of reform to the United Kingdom's system for the regulation of health professionals. It is complemented by 'Safeguarding patients' - the Government's response to the recommendations of the Fifth Report of the Shipman Inquiry and to the recommendations of the Ayling, Neale and Kerr/Haslam Inquiries. It describes the measures required to ensure the independence of the national professional regulators, and the proposals for periodic revalidation of professional registration in which appraisal will be a key component. The processes for this revalidation will come through discussion with each profession and its regulator. Proposals are made for improving the investigation of concerns about health professionals at local and national levels, and for the extension of information held on professional registers and how this will be managed. The regulatory bodies will continue their responsibility for assuring the quality of educational standards.

Royal College of Nursing Policy Unit. Policy Briefing 04/2007: Trust, assurance and safety: the regulation of health professionals in the 21st Century (2007) (PDF 51.8KB)
This briefing presents the RCN view of the proposals made in the white paper, and provides a summary and synopsis of proposals that affect nursing regulation.

Health, Social care and well-being strategies (2006)
The purpose of this statutory guidance is to set out the requirements for preparing a Health, Social Care and Well-being Strategy under the provisions of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 (the 2002 Act) and the Health, Social Care and Well-being (Wales) (Regulations) 2003.

Designed for life. Creating world class health and social care for Wales in the 21st century (2005)
'Designed for life' sets out a ten year vision for health and social care services and health improvement in Wales. It is based on foundations and policy directions established during the period 2001-05 and complements 'Health Challenge Wales'. The vision will be delivered through a series of strategic frameworks each covering three years which are described in the document. These strategic frameworks are: redesigning care, delivering higher standards and ensuring full engagement.

Making the Connections: Delivering better services for Wales (2004) (PDF 252KB)
This Making the Connections document published in 2004 by the Welsh Assembly Government set out a vision for public services in Wales and outlined four principles for the delivery of better services: citizens at the centre; equality and social justice; working together as the Welsh Public Service and Value for money. This led to the development of a five year MtC programme and action plan supporting continuous improvement in the delivery of public services in Wales. The original ‘Healthcare standards for Wales’ (2005), superceded in 2010 by ‘Doing well, doing better – standards for health services in Wales’, was developed in the context of the MtC programme and related strategies.

Wales: a better country (2003)
'Wales: a better country' the Welsh Assembly Government's new strategic plan issued in September 2003, proposed to take the work of 'Well Being in Wales' forward to make these connections more effectively at national level.

NHS Wales: Putting patients first (1998)
'Putting patients first', introduced clinical governance as a new initiative to assure and improve clinical standards and provide better services for patients, stating that "all NHS trusts will be required to adopt the concept of clinical governance to ensure that quality is integral to the organisation and working practices of staff".