Well being in Wales
Comments from ACCA
November 2002
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is pleased to have this opportunity to provide comments on Well Being in Wales (the consultation document).
Our response has been developed in conjunction with our Public Sector Technical Issues Committee, a group of experienced accountants working in the public sector, and in association with my colleague Andy Wynne, Head of Public Sector Technical Issues.
ACCA welcomes the publication of the consultation document and believes that it effectively builds on the previous document issued by the Welsh Assembly Government, Better Health Better Wales.
Objectives of the consultation document
We agree with the main emphasis provided in the consultation document and its prime objectives to:
- stress the importance of health and well being to our everyday lives and
the success of the economy, with health spending being seen as an investment
rather than a cost
- encourage further action to reduce differences in levels of health across
Wales
- assist in the building of stronger local communities
as a contribution to better health outcomes especially through the
identification of crosscutting challenges for the Welsh Assembly Government
and the importance of effective partnership working with others
and
- highlight the role that the new Local Health Boards and local councils can have on improving local health and well being, especially with effective joint working and their responsibility to develop local health, social care and well being strategies.
An integrated approach and sustainable
development
ACCA also welcomes the following aspects of the consultation document:
- the integrated approach proposed by the consultation document and the
importance assigned to employers and employees and their organisations in
improving health and well being across Wales
- the recognition given to sustainable development, the view that this is
only possible if a proper balance is achieved between the social, economic and
environmental dimensions and that action is necessary to ensure that the
health and well being of future generations is not compromised by our present
actions.
We consider, however, that more emphasis could be placed on:
- the benefits of adoption of local actions plans for
health and well being by employers and voluntary organisations
- active reporting of the success of the achievement of
local health and well being strategies
- work related illness and accidents
and
- the effect of road transport on health and well being resulting from road
traffic accidents and the wider environmental impact.
Local strategies for health and well being
We welcome the proposal that there will be a joint duty of Local Health
Boards and local authorities to prepare local health, social care and well being
strategies in conjunction with other organisations and through consultation with
local people.
We believe, however, that this proposal should be extended to encourage the active participation in the development of these strategies by local employers and voluntary organisations, for example, trade unions. These bodies should be encouraged to develop and publicise action plans that will detail their organisation's contribution to the local health, social care and well being strategy.
Active reporting of progress on health and
well being
Annual reports should be produced to facilitate the active monitoring of the
local health, social care and well being strategies. These reports should
include the targets and performance indicators which are currently being
developed. The reports should actively be discussed by the major partners in the
strategies in conjunction with consideration of the extent to which their own
action plans have been achieved.
Annual reports of local health, social care and well being strategies should go beyond passive monitoring of targets and indicators and should consider the reasons for the successes and any failures in achieving the agreed goals and targets. Local strategies and action plans should then be revised as an integrated part of this process.
Work related illness and accidents
ACCA welcomes the recognition by the consultation document of the significant
impact that work-related illness has on health and well being with an estimated
100,000 people in Wales suffering from some form of work-related illness each
year (paragraph 3.2). We believe, however, that the consultation document should
place more emphasis on the responsibilities of employers for the health and well
being of their employers and the local community. Areas such as the South Wales
valleys still bare the scars from industrial concerns that appeared to have
little regard for the local environment or the health and well being of the
local communities.
We also believe that more use could be made of the Corporate Health Standard. This should be used by employers working in conjunction with their employees and their representatives to ensure that companies have a positive effect on the health and well being of all their employees, their families and local communities.
Effects of road transport
The consultation document recognises the negative impact that road transport
has on the health and well being of many people in Wales with the fact that, in
2000, 168 people were killed and a further 13,974 were injured (paragraph 6.5)
and that motor vehicles are the main source of air pollution (paragraph 7.4).
The consultation document also recognises the benefits of reducing traffic speed
can have on these statistics (paragraph 6.7). It does not, however, make any
concrete recommendation for addressing the negative impacts of road transport
beyond promising to publish a Road Safety Strategy for Wales.
The consultation document recognises the benefits of good public transport, but only in regard to improving communications and reducing isolation. We believe that the document could be extended to cover the role that effective public transport can have on reducing the negative impact of road transport, private and commercial, currently has through:
- road deaths and accidents
and
- its adverse impact on the environment and so the health and well being of many local communities.