Quality and Engagement Act

In Wales, a new law came into force on 1 April 2023 to make Health and Social Care better. This is called the Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act 2020 (opens in new tab).

The act aims to:

• strengthen the existing Duty of Quality (opens in new tab) on NHS bodies and extend it to the Welsh ministers for their health service functions
• create a Duty of Candour (opens in new tab) on NHS service providers for openness and honesty with patients and service users harmed during care
• amplify voices by replacing community health councils with with Llais, an all-Wales citizen body for health and social care (opens in new tab)
• enable the appointment of Vice Chairs for NHS Trusts, bringing them in line with health boards