(Title Image: Simon Davis/DFID Copyright Free)
Audit Wales has praised the ability of NHS bodies to adapt to new ways of working during the Covid-19 pandemic in a new report (pdf).
The report says health boards moved quickly to holding virtual meetings and enabled the public to continue to ask questions.
Additionally, there were few concerns at the speed by which NHS bodies established emergency command and control structures as outlined in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Audit Wales recommends NHS Wales and associated bodies reflect on their pandemic experiences and decide what worked well and what didn’t to establish new ways of doing things.
Measures picked out by auditors that could continue after the pandemic include virtual meetings, more focused/simplified meeting agendas, giving clinicians more decision-making responsibility and improving communication with the public – particularly via social media.
Auditor General, Adrian Crompton said: “The challenge now for each individual body is to fully evaluate their new ways of working, consider the opportunities outlined in this report, and maintain the sense of urgency and common purpose created during the crisis to establish and embed new approaches to governance in a post-pandemic world.”
