§ Mr. Geraint HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives are being taken to promote a better quality of care for patients in Dyfed, Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GristThe quality strategy "A Quality Health Service for Wales", published in April 1990, is not intended to be prescriptive but to provide a framework within which individual health authorities can develop their own quality programmes in the context of their own strategic intent. Health authorities are required to consider how best they could progress quality within their own areas, using the strategy as a working framework.
Within the context of the Department's annual review East Dyfed health authority has confirmed its commitment to the development of total quality management (TQM) and the pursuance of quality care as a key task for the health authority within the district's overall philosophy of being consumer responsive. The authority is also developing explicit statements on quality standards for the contracting process. Detailed information on initiatives in East Dyfed is, however, a matter for the authority.