RCS England welcomes Senedd Health and Care Committee call for surgical hubs

The Welsh Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee has today published a report: ‘Waiting well? The impact of the waiting times backlog on people’¹.

Commenting on the report, Miss Sue Hill, a consultant vascular surgeon and acting Director for Wales at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said:

‘We welcome the Health and Social Care Committee’s report into the impact of the waiting times backlog on patients in Wales. We provided evidence to the inquiry, and I am delighted to see the Committee has accepted our recommendation for the establishment of regional surgical hubs as a way of restoring planned treatment in Wales.

‘While it is important that changes to services fully consider the impact on staff and local communities, the public support change. Our research shows most people would be prepared to travel in order to get an operation in a surgical hub. We agree with the Committee that delivering surgical hubs across health board boundaries in Wales will require effective communication with patients and local communities.

‘We also welcome the Committee's recommendation that the Minister for Health and Social Services should require health boards to routinely publish waiting times data by specialty and hospital. Transparency is key.  This data would help patients understand how long they can expect to wait for their procedure, and could help identify pressure points in the health system.’

Notes to editors

1-  The Welsh Parliament's Health and Social Care Committee's report, Waiting well? The impact of the waiting times backlog on people can be found here Waiting well? The impact of the waiting times backlog on people in Wales (senedd.wales)

2 - The Royal College of Surgeons of England is a professional membership organisation and registered charity, which exists to advance surgical standards and improve patient care.

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