‘Health yardstick needed’

PUBLIC Health Wales and the Welsh Government are seeking views on what matters to people when it comes to improving their health and well-being.

The organisations are working together to develop a tool to help measure improvements to public health.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford has launched an eight-week consultation to gather views from people and organisations across Wales.

The Public Health Outcomes Framework is a tool to measure how we can all take steps to contribute to creating a healthier Wales.

It can be used by government, communities, public services, private and voluntary sector organisations as well as individuals and their families to inspire and inform action to improve and protect health and well-being.

It will support the Well-being of Future Generation Act’s national indictors and milestones, which will be set by Welsh Government Minis- ters. Tracey Cooper, chief executive of Public Health Wales, said: “Although most people in Wales enjoy good health and quality of life, health and well-being in some of our communities is not improving at the same rate as others.

“Public Health Wales is working with our partners in the Welsh Government and across the public, private and third sectors in Wales to reverse disadvantage and poverty in Wales, and improve health and wellbeing – but we need to measure whether our work is effective.

“This framework will provide a clear sense of direction and purpose for our partnership work, and provide a solid foundation for ensuring our activities are based on the best available evidence.”

Professor Drakeford, said: “This tool will be used to measure how well we are doing against our commitments to improve public health and well-being in Wales. It will also be a yardstick to measure our progress against other nations.”