Wales is facing record-high waiting times across its health and care systems, with over 800,000 patient pathways open as of October 2024—an increase of 73% compared to pre-pandemic levels. These delays erode public trust, exacerbate health inequalities, and place additional strain on an already overstretched workforce.

This publication highlights a number of Bevan Commission Exemplar projects across a range of areas that address specific bottlenecks, enhance patient flow, and optimise resource use. Adopting these approaches across Wales could provide immediate support to help reduce waiting times, with the potential to free up thousands of GP appointments annually, reduce hospital admissions and bed days, and shorten waiting lists through improved efficiency in diagnostics, surgery, and community-based care.

The Bevan Commission’s ‘Let’s Not Waste’ programme was established to help address waste across health and care settings in Wales. Building upon the ‘What a Waste!’ publication, the programme focused on six key domains: Workforce, Administration, Services, Treatment, Energy, and Systems (WASTES).

The programme aimed to raise awareness of waste, promote sustainability, and support waste reduction initiatives, aligned with the Welsh Government’s NHS Wales Decarbonisation Plan.

The programme engaged with a wide range of people and organisations across Wales, representing tens of thousands of staff. Through a series of targeted workshops, events, collaborative networks, and the ‘Let’s Not Waste’ pledge, the programme has created vital opportunities for healthcare professionals to access information and support, to work together towards reducing waste. Events such as the NHS 75 Conference and the Waste Masterclass for senior executives, led by Prof. Don Berwick, provided platforms for cooperation and knowledge exchange, greatly contributing to the programme’s reach and impact.

The Bevan Commission’s repository of completed innovation and improvement projects represents one of the largest collections of change in any NHS system across the globe. These projects represent the combined efforts of the leaders and teams of Bevan Exemplar professional staff. These staff herald from all corners of Wales and have undertaken the training programme and have introduced a new way of improved working to every context where health and care is practiced. These settings include alliances between internal teams within a single employer, inter-organisational working across boundaries to join up care, and unusual alliances in the third sector or with local schools. There is barely a single area of practice that has yet to benefits from the impact of a Bevan Exemplar.

Key Facts