Changing the conversation: developing an alliancing approach to whole system transformation of health and care Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

The population in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan is growing rapidly and has shifting health needs, including an ageing population and greater ethnic diversity than much of Wales.

This project from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board aimed to transform service development for this changing population with a ‘best for patient, best for system’ method.

Inspired by Canterbury District Health Board in New Zealand, which successfully navigated the challenges of rapid population growth and ageing, the project team developed an ‘alliance’ approach. This is an effective mechanism for bringing together expert health care staff, partner organisations and patients to identify and solve system-wide health and care problems.

Community falls prevention was selected as the project focus, and front-line staff from across primary, secondary and third sector organisations were invited to attend monthly workshops designed to facilitate creative thinking while providing support and live information for theory testing.

To help participants ‘change the conversation’ and put the needs of patients before services, each workshop began with a patient story and attendees were asked to ignore their ‘organisational and professional baggage’. Evaluation from Cedar Health Technology Research Centre fed into adapting and improving the workshops to encourage open discussion and knowledge sharing.

Before COVID-19 prevented further progress, the falls alliance successfully developed a shared network and community-wide falls screening tool, contributed to the spread and scale of a falls ‘rapid response’ service, and redesigned a community falls prevention pathway.

They are now planning to re-start implementation activities and continue to evaluate their work to inform increased uptake of alliancing methodology to drive service development across the health and care system.

Contact information

For more information about this project, please contact Ruth Jordan, Assistant Director Improvement, Implementation & Spread, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.