The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant challenge for all of Welsh society but no more so than the health and social care sector. Statutory service commissioners and their provider partners have been pushed to their very limits in trying to respond to and deliver services in, a public health emergency.
The Support for Commissioned Providers Guidance has evolved through the management of the COVID-19 outbreak (version 1 published 30 March; version 2 published 17 June) and was initially designed to summarise the pressures being placed on children and young people’s and adults’ social care providers in Wales arising from the pandemic and examine possible ways in which commissioners could mitigate them.
However, as we move out of the initial critical phase of the pandemic, it is an opportunity to reflect on the last four months and explore ways of supporting integrated resilience and recovery planning more holistically and ensure we refocus on the key principles and values set out in A Healthier Wales. All of which can be used to develop a third version of the guidance in the near future.
This webinar, hosted by ADSS Cymru, in association with the National Commissioning Board, offered an opportunity for commissioners and providers to examine the core principles and values centred at the heart of the guidance; to explore some of the technical operational advice and how that is delivered in practice; and to listen to the voice of the both the provider and the commissioner, to understand the challenges and opportunities that exist from mature, cohesive commissioning partnership arrangements, as we move to a new phase in managing the virus.
The webinar was first broadcast on Thursday 16th July 2020 at 11am (GMT).
