THE chief executive of NHS Wales said the service must 'learn from its mistakes' in the annual quality report published today.

The first NHS Wales Annual Quality Statement provides an overview of the work being carried out by all NHS Wales organisations to improve the quality of care for people living in Wales.

The report said improvements in the last year included more eye health examinations have been made available in the community to avoid hospital appointments; improvements in care for people at the end of their lives and steps to make NHS services dementia friendly.

There was also a reduction in the number of people developing infections in hospitals– deaths from MRSA have fallen by 34 per cent; Clostridium difficile infections have fallen by 18 per cent and
vaccination levels are at their highest.

Dr Andrew Goodall, the chief executive of NHS Wales, said: “NHS Wales must continue to improve so it provides people and their families across the country with high-quality care when they need it most.

“Meeting patient needs with dignity and respect is very important to the NHS. When this does not happen, we have taken action. Our underlying principle is that we must learn from our mistakes."

He added: “Above all, we want to provide safe, compassionate care. We will act on feedback and work with the public and NHS staff to continue to ensure we have a truly national health service we can all continue to be proud of.”

The NHS Wales Annual Quality Statement relates to 2014-15, which includes the period covered by the Trusted to Care report – which was published in May 2014 after concerns were raised about standards of care in some wards at the Princess of Wales and Neath Port Talbot hospitals. The Welsh Government and NHS Wales have acted on its findings at a local and a national level.

The way the NHS handles complaints and concerns has also been reviewed, and health boards and NHS trusts are implementing its many recommendations. New ways of keeping track of how NHS services are performing and where improvements need to be made have also been introduced.

The results of the latest national survey show that, overall, 91 per cent of people were very satisfied with the care they received from the Welsh NHS.

The Welsh NHS will in the next year focus on helping people take care of and responsibility for their own health, developing joined-up services with other statutory services so care can be provided closer to home and working to prevent delays in treatment when people have to be admitted to hospital; continuing to implement the Trusted to Care recommendations and the findings from the subsequent spot checks of hospital medical and mental health wards and
identifying people affected by dementia as early as possible so they receive the best possible care.

From today, the My Local Health Service website, which provides a wide range of data and information about the performance of the NHS in Wales, will also include information about social services.