Disappointed patients are going to get waiting cards as per the NHS plans for better patient facilitation through the waiting queue.
And the Welsh NHS app is being further developed so that patients can track themselves through the system and book or change appointments with the touch of a button. Health Secretary Jeremy Miles told BBC Politics Wales that capping missed appointments and such-like transformations will reasonably reduce the waiting list. Health boards could also have their funding clawed back by the Welsh Government in the instance where they have been given money to hit particular targets but did not do so. However, the clawback cannot apply to the funding that is essentially for the health boards.
It would essentially be packaged as something new in between the patient and the NHS itself because there will be increasing expectations from the patients themselves. There could be more interventions directed at patient preparedness before the surgery in relation to their waiting lists, meaning that they may need to achieve certain weight-loss goals or some serious level of exercise for a period of time before being placed on the waiting list.
About two years after the last alterations, the NHS in Wales probably stands to undergo some streamlining in its leadership and focus on cutting down on self-justification again. But a damning report from Audit Wales regarding cancer services has shaken the credibility of this institution; auditors reported finding "confusion and duplication" at "leadership level" and gave no clear definition to what the Welsh government and the executive itself were responsible for.
The Welsh government believes they are contemplating commissioning national services from the private sector to improve price negotiation rather than the local and short-notice order standoff they claim to have been in for months. Some board members would certainly resist this as not all would want to be bound by such agreements, but the ministers can be expected to support this avenue for better planning and value for money.
More performance data would also be published by the Welsh Assembly about the seven health boards in Wales, aimed at greater accountability and transparency.
It would, however, not be a league table but aims to create some competition among poorly performing boards to learn from and be judged against best performers potentially. The findings were believed to reflect heavy influence from the concerns over the viability of performance management. The health secretary is expected to elaborate on the further proposals on Monday next week. It is said to have stemmed from growing pressure to address apparent long-term underperformance with a significant injection of investment.