I am very pleased that the Bevan Commission held its first public meeting on Wednesday 11 December 2013, at the Dragon Hotel in Swansea. I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the public who attended and participated, giving their views on the issues facing NHS Wales.
In addition to brief presentations from members of the Commission on their work so far, there was also the opportunity for members of the public to speak and give their views on what they feel the priorities for healthcare should be. Many of those who attended had a professional interest in NHS Wales, either working for health boards and trusts, or for organisations linked to healthcare. But there were also people there whose experience of the service was that of people who used and relied on it, and their input was especially welcomed.
During the course of the evening the audience were invited to vote interactively on key issues and the results are an interesting barometer of both public perception and the public mood. The voting results acted as useful discussion starters, even though they are from a small sample of people, so are very unlikely to be representative of the wider public.
I have written this short note to put these results in the public domain, with the hope that they will elicit a response.
