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Good practice developed as part of the Campaign, which includes eliminating hospital acquired pressure ulcers and improving rapid response to acute illness, will now be spread throughout Wales.

The programme will introduce new ways of working for health organisations to adopt, including:

• Providing better rehabilitation following a stroke
• Preventing Acute Coronary Syndrome
• Speedier recovery after surgery
• Reducing falls in the community
• Better treatment for depression
• Improving care for dementia sufferers
• Improving maternity services

Dr Jonathon Gray, 1000 Lives Plus director, said:

“Patients have the right to expect the same high quality of care – wherever they receive their treatment.

“We know that our frontline staff are committed to improving both the safety and quality of care they deliver. 1000 Lives Plus provides the opportunity for that work to continue.”

Dr Alan Willson, director of 1000 Lives Plus, said:

“The new programme is committed to accelerating the pace of change with an urgency to spread the new ways of working from ward to ward, practice to practice and organisation to organisation.

“The mark of our success will be when every patient in Wales receives the same high quality of care.”

Every Health Board and NHS Trust is involved in 1000 Lives Plus and will build on the improvements to patient care which were introduced by the 1000 Lives Campaign.

Pilot work carried out in Hywel Dda Health Board and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has seen a reduction in the number of falls on elderly wards.

Hourly checks on patients and ensuring equipment to help mobility is easily available has seen Hywel Dda Health Board reporting more than a year without a fall on its pilot ward.

Staff Nurse Sharon James at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which is now reporting more than 200 days without a fall, said:

“The work is about putting the ward sister and charge nurse in control of their ward.

“Staff are so enthusiastic about 1000 Lives Plus because they are being listened to and their ideas acted upon. We can then see the difference we make as frontline staff to the care we deliver to our patients.”

The work to improve recovery after surgery has been given a boost through a Welsh Assembly Government ‘Invest to Save’ grant to develop support for patients after having gastrointestinal surgery.

1000 Lives Plus working with clinicians from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board obtained the grant to enable each hospital in Wales to invest in equipment and key staffing to ensure all patients experience excellent standards of care by reducing the length of stay for patients, post-operative complications and cancelled operations.

Dr Tony Jewell, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said:

“1000 Lives Plus is designed to ensure that new ways of working are embedded in every day practice, enabling everyone to meet the shared vision of putting patients and patient safety above all else.

“We look forward to continuing the national effort to deliver improvements that will help deliver world class healthcare every time to every patient where ever they are in Wales.”

1000 Lives Plus will also focus on reducing waste and variation in health organisations through improved ways of working.

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