How Wales Is Getting It Right With Prudent Health
September 27th, 2016. The Bevan Commission, together with AbbVie and the College of Medicine is bringing together members of the public, professionals and some well-known personalities, to share their experiences and expertise at bringing Prudent Health to life in Wales. This day-long conference forms part of a comprehensive programme of work funded and organised by AbbVie to help address the sustainability challenge faced by our health system.
Opened by Welsh Comedian and Singer, Max Boyce MBE alongside co-host and Welsh Rugby International, Sir Gareth Edwards CBE, the meeting will be chaired by Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, Chair of the Bevan Commission. Talking about the meeting, he said “This is a really important event for us in Wales as Prudent Health is unique and seen as the best way to ensure that everyone is involved in improving health and supporting the NHS in Wales.”
The event will include thought-provoking panel discussions looking at how Prudent Health can make a difference at the various stages of our lives. The Older Years Panel will be chaired by Professor Ewan Macdonald OBE, the Working Age Panel by Professor Dame Carol Black DBE, the Teenager/Young People’s Panel by Dr Helen Patterson and the Early Years Panel by Lt General Louis Lillywhite CB, MBE, OSJ.
Broadcaster, patient and carer, Carrie Grant, will talk about the need to ‘remember the patient’ during an inspirational speech, before Frank Atherton, recently appointed Chief Medical Officer for Wales will make a keynote speech entitled “Beyond Medicine”, looking at the importance of prevention and health and wellbeing. In addition, Vaughan Gething, Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport will emphasise the importance of Prudent Health to Wales.
The conference will also launch the Bevan Innovation Hubs across Wales and the AbbVie Bevan Commission Award for the best example of Prudent Health. These will be awarded at AbbVie’s third Sustainable Healthcare Conference in partnership with the College of Medicine in November 2017.
Health Boards, Trusts, local authorities and the third sector across Wales have nominated an audience of over 250 delegates to attend the conference and will be encouraged to feed their prudent ideas in and take some measurable action following the meeting to make a difference for people living in Wales.
About the Bevan Commission
The Bevan Commission was originally established in 2008 to advise the Minister on promoting health and health services improvement in Wales. Since then the Commission’s work has added significant value to the work of the Welsh Government and the NHS in Wales, including the development of the Bevan Commission principles and, more recently the idea of prudent healthcare. The Commission is not a formal part of the NHS in Wales and it was reformed in September 2014 to act as an impartial advisory group to the Minister for Health and Social Services (and Welsh Government Ministers).
It has been asked to give expert advice on:
- how the health service can continue to response to enduring austerity;
- the performance of Wales in relation to the Bevan Commission principles;
- to assess whether Wales is achieving its stated ambition of building health and health services which meet the needs of the people of Wales; and
- how to adopt prudent healthcare putting Wales at the forefront of an international movement to secure greater value in the delivery of healthcare.
About Prudent Health
In 2013 the Bevan Commission published ‘Simply Prudent Healthcare‘ which first articulated the concept of Prudent Healthcare. The paper considered how Wales could make the most effective use of the available resources to ensure high quality and consistent care across Wales. In addition to this paper, the Bevan Commission developed a set of provisional principles that would underpin the concept of Prudent Healthcare. After considering the advice of the Bevan Commission the Minister for Health and Social Services outlined his vision for Prudent Healthcare at the Welsh NHS Confederation Conference in January 2014.
Over the course of 2014 a wide ranging conversation on Prudent Healthcare was held. This conversation took the form of workshops, debates and the launch of a dedicated website for making prudent healthcare happen. In January 2015 the Bevan Commission, after considering the findings from the workshops and the various debates, developed a final set of prudent principles. The final prudent principles are:
- Achieve health and well-being with the public, patients and professionals as equal partners through co-production
- Care for those with the greatest health need first, making most effective use of all skills and resources
- Do only what is needed, no more, no less; and do no harm
- Reduce inappropriate variation using evidence based practices consistently and transparently
About AbbVie
AbbVie is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company formed in 2013 following separation from Abbott Laboratories. The company’s mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to develop and market advanced therapies that address some of the world’s most complex and serious diseases. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pharmacyclics, AbbVie employs more than 28,000 people worldwide and markets medicines in more than 170 countries. For further information on the company and its people, portfolio and commitments, please visit www.abbvie.com
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