Building on positive health outcomes

We need to build on positive health outcomes in Wales following the announcement that more and more people in Wales are surviving conditions such as cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart disease.

In a statement last week Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething highlighted that there has been a 10% reduction in cancer mortality in Wales over the last decade, as well as a marked growth in survival rates for those treated in critical care units for serious illnesses. The rate of deaths from neurological conditions in Wales is also lower than in any other UK country.

Health outcomes in Wales are improving year on year, which is a great credit to the record levels of investment in health services by the Welsh Labour Government. The Welsh Government ‘Together for Health’ strategy published in 2011 has driven strong improvement in the treatment of major health conditions, and it’s vitally important that the next Welsh Government – working in collaboration with the medical profession across Wales – gets to work on drawing up new and ambitious targets for key health services. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels, and we must do more. Welsh Labour’s election pledge to create a new emergency fund for life-threatening conditions is a positive statement of intent for the future.