Royal College of Physicians welcomes Green Paper and the broad thrust of its wide ranging proposals.
Dr Alan Rees RCP Vice President for Wales said:
Patient safety and providing high quality health care is paramount and at the heart of everything we do. These proposals which the Minister has set out today accord with the theme within in our recent policy document Focus on the Future. I am particularly pleased to see that the minister has reaffirmed that patient centred care is at the heart of modern NHS services and there should be informed public debate on local health service redesign.
As the body which sets standards for over 1,000 doctors in Wales it is very pleasing to see the renewed emphasis on ensuring there are consistent standards, that evidence-based practice is embedded into decision making, in particular the proposals for a more inclusive and open way to include clinicians, patients and the public people in the tough decisions the health service has to make.
Clinical leadership is essential to ensure the NHS is fit for the future and these proposals offer a real opportunity for us in Wales to revisit arrangements and ensure that the NHS has effective governance, that clinicians are properly involved in the decision making process and that checks and balances are in place. We will look carefully at any proposals to change the current inspection regime but reiterate our desire to see an enhanced role for doctors in NHS inspections and more ways to ensure our knowledge and expertise contributes to ensuring high quality care can be provided across Wales.
- The Royal College of Physicians aims to improve patient care and reduce illness, In the UK and across the globe. We are patient centred and clinically led. Our 30,000 members worldwide, including 1,100 in Wales work in hospitals and the community across 30 different medical specialities, diagnosing and treating millions of patients with a huge range of medical conditions.
- Focus on the Future our action plan for the next Welsh Government sets out the RCP policy aims for the next National Assembly Elections.