Mike Hedges AM welcomes £10m Welsh Government funding to improve health outcomes

£10 million Welsh Government funding to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment, deliver earlier diagnosis and modernise treatment has today been announced by the Health Minister Vaughan Gething.

Speaking from his Swansea Constituency, Mike Hedges AM said…..   ‘This is good news for people in my constituency and right across Wales. Medical experts have long called for a single pathway for cancer patients and Wales is going to be the first part of the UK to introduce such a pathway. The additional funding for endoscopy and radiology services will also make a very big contribution to the health of our fellow citizens. Prevention and early interventions are crucial to tackling many illnesses and the remaining funds will be devoted to this crucial area of work. This new Health Investment will save the lives of many people’

The main focus is to improve the quality of care, to reduce variation and to improve patient outcomes. Investment will be directed towards services which will bring the most wide-ranging benefits to the most people.

As previously announced last year, £3 million will be invested to deliver the single cancer pathway. Wales is the first UK nation to take this step. The single cancer pathway aims to reduce the time that patients have to wait to receive cancer diagnostic tests and for their treatment to start. Once the new pathway is in place, a patient’s waiting time will begin from the point of a suspicion of cancer rather than the point of diagnosis.

A further £3m will support diagnosis services including endoscopy and radiology as well as innovative new procedures like gene and cell therapies.

There will also be a focus on rehabilitation services which will receive £3m in funding. This will be used to assess how key services are currently delivered. It will focus on community based prevention and early intervention which will help avoid inappropriate hospital admissions.

The remaining million £1m will be split between supporting 1,000 Lives improvement and the development of value based health care.