Continued support for Welsh healthcare services

Picker, National Collaborative Commissioning Unit Wales (NCCU) and the Welsh government have been collaborating to support the development of healthcare insight and policy in Wales since 2017 when Picker helped to redesign the experience-based elements of the Welsh CAREMORE Commissioning framework. Since then, person centred care has been gaining momentum across the Welsh healthcare system.

In 2018, Picker conducted the first national perceptions study into awareness of and access to urgent care across Wales. We presented the results of this programme to the Welsh government, establishing the need for additional funding during the winter period and a clear communications strategy for public engagement. Since then, Picker’s work with NHS Wales and the Welsh government has continued to prioritise the embedding of personal experiences and perceptions into system-level changes.

Working alongside the NCCU and Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust to understand public perceptions and service user assessment of the proposed changes to their amber call categorisation, Picker identified:

• what matters most to citizens when calling 999; and
• what drives public choice to use 999 over other urgent care services.

The insights from the study were then used to drive improvements in conveyance and experience outcomes.

During 2019, we have continued to collaborate with the Welsh health and care system:

• Picker and NHS Wales have engaged with emergency department staff to conduct the first systematic staff experience evaluation across all thirteen Type 1 emergency departments in Wales. The insights are being used to improve staff experience through local and national initiatives.
• Picker’s work inspired the NCCU to use our public perception and experience model to support their Mental Health Urgent Care Access review. The results will inform the Welsh Government’s forward priorities around access to mental health support during crisis.

Picker is an essential partner who provide independent, expert advice supporting us to keep people’s experiences at the centre of policy and practice in NHS Wales.

Julian Baker, Director of National Collaborative Commissioning, NHS Wales.