Skip to main content Skip to navigation

'Together for Health': February 2012

Together for Health is the five year vision for the NHS in Wales.

Based around community services, rather than acute services, it emphasises patient-centred care.

The vision recognises pressures on the health service in Wales resulting from a rising elderly population and growing numbers of people with chronic conditions, together with pressures on the number of medical staff and inadequate provision of some specialist services. The document doesn't mention MS, but we know that neurology services in Wales are inequitable and very thinly spread.

The Vision for the NHS in Wales in 2016 is

  • health will be better for everyone – ie a commitment to improving quality of life, where underlying health problems cannot be resolved
  • access and patient experience will be better – easier access to primary care, more 24 hour/365 days a year services
  • better service safety and quality will improve health outcomes – including an assertion that specialist hospital care in centres of excellence will match the best

The vision acknowledges some major challenges, particularly in workforce sustainability and funding restrictions.

Messages for people with MS are mixed. The Vision promises personal careplan for people with chronic health problems, but without a timescale. While new targets are being set for cancer, cardiac care and stroke, there is no mention of neurology in the document.

The full document is available from wales.gov.uk