This month, RCP vice president for Wales Hilary Williams blogs about the new Ministerial Advisory Group’s report on performance and productivity in NHS Wales, end-of-life care, and her new role as clinical vice president.
The Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) was set up last October by the cabinet secretary for health and social care to independently review the performance and productivity in NHS Wales. Last year, patients in Wales faced record-long waiting lists, with some waiting over 2 years for treatment. In contrast, similar waits have been virtually eliminated in England. Six months on, the MAG published its recommendations on improving the performance and productivity in planned care, diagnostics, cancer and urgent and emergency care services.
The recommendations rightly highlight urgent issues in acute services and we were particularly pleased to see a timeline to be actioned in the next 3–6 months. Our response highlights the importance of ensuring that resources and staff time are made available to deliver this ambitious report.
RCP position statement
The RCP has published a position statement on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that is progressing through Westminster.
My new role as clinical vice president
I was really pleased to be elected as clinical vice president (CVP) for the RCP. As a membership organisation, I really hope to build on our approach in Wales, involving our members in policy development and developing a strong connection to them right across the UK and globally.
I start in my new CVP role in August 2025 and there will be an election for a new vice president for Wales. RCP Council will approve and communicate the election arrangements and timetable for that as soon as possible but for now, I will continue in post. I am sure that the RCP in Wales will go from strength to strength and the next VP for Wales will have a strong foundation to build on.
Our physician survey
A reminder if you have not already done so to share your insights into the specific challenges facing physicians in Wales in our ‘Focus on physicians’ survey. The views and experiences of physicians in Wales are so important to help us influence national policy. You can access the survey here – the deadline is 2 June 2025.
End-of-life care
The RCP team in Wales recently met Lynne Hughes from the charity Marie Curie to support its work to identify the systemic issues facing people in their last 12 months of life, and develop innovative and equitable approaches to improve palliative and end-of-life care across Wales.
Given that we know that one in 14 emergency department attendances in Wales is someone in their last year of life, Marie Curie is keen to understand the main drivers for unplanned hospital admissions and what we think some of the solutions may be. Marie Curie will be facilitating some discussions for resident doctors, so please keep an eye out for these. Lynne is also interested in hearing about any quality improvement projects that you and your colleagues may have implemented to improve end-of-life care. Please contact her at lynne.hughes@mariecurie.org.uk
Finally
We have lots of exciting things planned for June, including meeting the new CMO in Wales as part of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) Cymru and attending the Labour Party conference where we’ll be taking part in a hustings event and talking to MSs about why we need a long-term workforce plan for Wales.
Dr Hilary Williams
Vice president for Wales
