Alcohol Pricing

This afternoon in Plenary Health Minister Edwina Hart AM set out the Welsh Assembly Government’s position on alcohol pricing.

I’m pleased that the Welsh Assembly Government are taking the issue of alcohol abuse seriously.

In recent years, the affordability of alcohol in the UK has been increasing, and this has played a significant role in the rise in alcohol consumption.

There is strong and consistent evidence that alcohol consumption and rates of alcohol-related problems are responsive to price.

It is clear that the relationship between the affordability of alcohol and the level of consumption provides an effective tool for controlling levels of consumption and reducing levels of alcohol related harm.

We believe it is essential that there is an increase in the level of excise paid on alcohol in the UK, and this should be relative to the number of units of alcohol. This increased taxation would not only reduce alcohol consumption and its related harms, but would also contribute to providing the necessary funding to meet the social and economic costs of these harms like police enforcement measures, healthcare service costs and treatment services.

We at BMA Cymru urge the Minister to act sooner rather than later in seeking further powers to tackle alcohol abuse, to help improve the health of the people of Wales.

WalesOnline - News - Health News - What do the big three political parties have to say about health in Wales?

BMA Members Jonathan Osborne, Sharon Blackford and Stefan Coghlan have been telling the Western Mail what they believe the priorities for the next government should be. Take a look here on page 3 and 4 of the article on health in Wales:

WalesOnline - News - Health News - What do the big three political parties have to say about health in Wales?

Do you agree with their opinions?

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

A line from the song which arouses passion in all who sing it. Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, our national anthem.

It is precisely this type of gusto that BMA Cymru Wales would like to invoke in Welsh medical students currently studying elsewhere in the UK.

Our campaign “We’ll keep We'll Keep a Welcome / Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad, intends to attract medical students back to Wales to train, and work as a doctor.

I’d like to thank all four Assembly Members who have contributed to my blog over the last two weeks in support of our campaign.

We really believe that Wales has it all. The standards of clinical training and career development opportunity are as good as can be found anywhere, with the added bonus of working in attractive surroundings offering excellent facilities and professional support.

With the added benefits of a quality lifestyle - reasonably priced housing, good schools and access to beautiful countryside - Wales is a clear winner when it comes to aligning career development with work-life balance.

“Wales has a tremendous amount to offer” - Shadow Minister for Health and Social Services, Andrew R.T. Davies A.M.

I am pleased to be given the opportunity to endorse the BMA Cymru campaign “We’ll keep a welcome”.

I have lived and worked in Wales all my life – I live with my family near Cowbridge in South Wales, situated in the rural Vale of Glamorgan but close to the Nation’s Capital City, Cardiff and we can therefore enjoy the best of both worlds – the beauty of the Welsh countryside and all that a bustling first city can offer.

We are never short of places to take our visitors - whatever their interests; the strikingly beautiful Welsh countryside boasts three National Parks and five regions designated as being of “Outstanding National Beauty”.

Wales has over 1200 Kilometres of coastline so you are never too far from the sea and the range of leisure activities that it provides, including surfing, sailing, fishing and swimming from some of the best beaches in the U.K. The temperate Welsh climate means that you can access the countryside throughout the year so if climbing the mountains of North Wales or the Beacons in the south are your bag or if you are into walking the coastal pathways or the picturesque valleys you will never be far from these areas.

Neither will you ever be far from civilisation – the cities and towns of Wales offer World – class theatres, museums and galleries – all evidence of the strong appreciation of music, literature and the Arts shared by Welsh people. Famous sons (and daughters) of Wales include Dylan Thomas, Richard Burton, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey and throughout history many famous Welshmen and Welshwomen have helped shape the development of the Americas and emerging countries.

The Urban areas also have busy shopping centres that cater for all tastes and pockets and the night life – whether in the vast choice of restaurants of all culinary styles or in the friendly village pubs is there for all to enjoy and relax in.

In Wales we are also proud of the education that we provide for our children. We have a strong ethos of Life-long Learning and share our education facilities with many over-seas students. Our Universities are at the cutting edge of Research and Development, particularly in the Sciences and especially in Medicine.

Wales has its own unique culture and Celtic language, which although only spoken by 20% of the population, is enjoying a steady growth and is evident throughout Wales in the bi-lingual road signs and literature. This strong sense of culture helps the Welsh people to empathise with the cultures of other nations – illustrated by the International Eisteddfod held annually at Llangollen in North Wales since the Second World War to celebrate and promote understanding between nations of the World. Our Cities (Cardiff in particular) have a strong cosmopolitan flavour and are home to a myriad of ethnic cultures.

Did I mention Sport? The Welsh are renowned for their love of Rugby – but soccer also enjoys a wide following in Wales with highly enthusiastic teams representing their cities, towns, villages and schools. In fact, whatever your sporting interests you will not find it difficult to follow them in Wales.

Perhaps the thing that I love most about Wales is the people – the community spirit, the strong work ethic and the sense of “chwarae teg” (fair play) that is inherent in our culture makes me realise how lucky that I am to live and work in Wales, with the people’s sense of humour, willingness to communicate and their need to work as part of a cohesive team – working in Wales has much to recommend it – indeed, there has been an increasing inward trend for workers from outside Wales since the 1970s.

As a place to live and work I believe that Wales has a tremendous amount to offer – the beauty of its landscape, the entertainment in the towns and cities, the education and training opportunities available, the fascinating culture and history of the country and the warmth of its people make it a place that many want to come to but few want to leave.

Wales has a lot to offer everyone.

1,000 Lives Campaign

This week, the 1,000 Lives Campaign which was designed to improve patient saftey in the NHS in Wales comes to an end. Here is an article which I wrote for the Western Mail about the campaign.

Patient safety is the highest priority for anyone working on the frontline in NHS Wales and it’s making a real difference in primary care.

That’s why the British Medical Association strongly supports the 1000 Lives Campaign and works hard to highlight those areas of patient safety and care that are important to our members.

For doctors, safety and quality go hand in hand, and the Campaign has created a focus around which those can be considered every day, in every patient contact, by health professionals and managers alike.

As we come to the final months of this two year campaign, we are pleased to see how much progress has been made across Wales.

When the initiative was launched in April 2008, it was the first time that primary care had been included in a similar patient safety campaign anywhere in the world.

Wales has led the way and our members have contributed in many of the Campaign’s areas, including improving leadership, medicines management and general medical care.

We have seen the impact made by establishing patient safety WalkRounds and culture surveys which have empowered our members to talk about their concerns and hopes for improvement.

Again Wales has led the way in this area, becoming the first country to arrange a safety culture survey for its general medical primary care services at a national level.

And the response from our members have been extremely positive with over 60 per cent of GP practices taking part.

The results have been helpful in identifying aspects of care working well, but also raised areas where there is scope for improvement.

BMA Cymru supports a healthcare service that listens to the concerns of doctors, acts on those concerns to improve safety and quality of care, and in which health professionals are not afraid to speak out.

Last year we published the ‘Speaking up for Patients’ report based on survey responses from 565 doctors working in England and Wales.

Almost three quarters (74%) said they had concerns about issues relating to patient safety over the course of their career.

Within in this group, 73% said their concerns related to standards of care.

Seven in ten doctors said they had raised their concerns but were not always satisfied with the response.

Often they were not asked for further information or made aware if any action was taken to improve the issue.

WalkRounds and culture surveys have the potential to examine and improve patient safety issues across the whole patient pathway.

Other areas that have helped to improve patient care are in medicines management and work to improve the quality of life for chronic heart failure patients.

More than 80 GP practices are working with Health Boards to reduce, where possible, the number of unnecessary hospital admissions for patients with chronic heart failure.

The promotion of evidence-based procedures such as timely and accurate diagnosis, medication therapy, and lifestyle advice could make a significant impact on the disease process.

GPs are also currently carrying out detailed work to improve the reliability of instructions given to patients about their medication.

We have already seen the difference this has made for patients who take Warfarin and we are looking at other areas including diabetes.

The development of the primary care trigger tool to measure improvements is also being embraced by members.

We know that all our GP practices are continually making changes to ensure the care they deliver to their patients is the best possible.

But now, thanks to the trigger tool they will be able to actually measure those improvements, see how they are working and if they are making a difference.

One of the fundamental features of the new tool is looking at harm caused by failure to recognise or adequately manage a new presentation of an acute illness.

If a patient’s problem does not respond to treatment or they develop an adverse reaction, they are likely to make another appointment.

It is these unscheduled reattendances that can act as triggers of possible harm.

We are proud to see the progress made through the 1000 Lives Campaign, and that doctors across Wales are playing their full part in it.

BMA Cymru will continue to support the Campaign and to highlight those areas of healthcare over which our members have concerns – so that patients can look forward to even safer services in Wales.

What are your views on the 1,000 Lives Campaign?