Clinical Governance Review: Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee

During 2013 the Royal College of Surgeons raised with HIW concerns it had about the management of waiting lists for elective cardiac surgery in south Wales. In Wales, responsibility for the commissioning of specialised services such as elective cardiac surgery lies with the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC).

In light of the concerns raised by the Royal College of Surgeons HIW took the decision to adjust its 2014/15 operational plan to include a review of the clinical governance arrangements that WHSSC has in place, and how these relate to patient outcomes. In order to understand these clinical governance arrangements HIW decided to focus on cardiac services. 

HIW therefore considered the following during the course of its review:

• The cardiac services pathway of care to evaluate the provision of services that achieves the best possible standards of care within available resources;
• The referral management process, to gain an understanding of how the referral process is managed
• Any other matters relevant to our review.

The findings and recommendations from this review are intended to be used by WHSSC to improve its clinical governance arrangements across all its services.