Wales leading in UK on neurological care measures

Launching the Annual Statement of Progress on Neurological Conditions, Vaughan Gething said: 

“No other UK nation has attempted to measure patient experience and outcomes across both stroke and neurological conditions before.  

“The aim is to have a Patient Recorded Experience Measure and a Patient Recorded Outcome Measure which can be administered, collected and collated on a national level.

“We will continue to develop and evaluate these high-quality measures over the next year and use this data to identify where services need to be improved, evaluate changes to our services and measure improvements over time.”

The Patient Recorded Outcome Measure aims to determine patients’ feelings on their symptoms, their ability to function and how their health affects their quality of life.  

The Patient Recorded Experience Measure will determine patients’ feelings about their care, being treated with dignity and respect, the personal impact of any delays to treatment and measure these against their expectations.

The progress statement also outlines: 

• a gradual reduction in the average length of time neurological patients spend in hospital, falling from 6.4 days in 2010-11 to 4.2 days in 2015-16
• a 65% increase in spending on neuroogical conditions between 2010-11 and 2014-15 to £283.7million 
• £1.2m that has been invested in improving  neuro-rehabilitation services across Wales 

Vaughan Gething said: 

“Increasing numbers of people need to use neurological services, and health boards are improving the services they offer.  I’m determined that we will continue to work to improve care for neurological patients and these measures will form a key part of this work.”