We have refreshed our long term strategy, A Healthier Mid and West Wales, to guide how we support people and communities up to 2040. Below is a BSL version of our summary strategy document that explains the updated direction, reflecting what people have told us, the changes we have experienced, and the progress we have made since 2018.
A Healthier Mid and West Wales
Healthier lives, well lived
Introduction
Hywel Dda University Health Board is your local NHS organisation. We plan, organise and provide health services for almost 400,000 people in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. We have refreshed our long‑term strategy, A Healthier Mid and West Wales, to guide how we support people and communities up to 2040. This is a summary version that explains the updated direction, reflecting what people have told us, the changes we have experienced, and the progress we have made since 2018.
Our ambition remains the same: to help people live healthier lives, starting, living and aging well for longer, with safe, sustainable, accessible and kind health and care. This refreshed strategy strengthens our focus on prevention, community support and the wider factors that influence health, and sets out how we will work together with our communities to create a healthier future.
You can read the full strategy on our website at hduhb.nhs.wales/healthier-mid-and-west-wales or request a copy by calling 0300 303 8322 (option 5 -local call rates apply).
Alternative formats are available, including Easy Read, youth‑friendly, audio, and BSL.
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Healthier lives, well lived – what it means
Healthier lives, well lived means living in good health for as long as possible. It’s about preventing illness by helping people and communities to take an active role in staying well. When care is needed, we want to offer support earlier and provide the right care at the right time.
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Our vision
We want everyone in mid and west Wales to live healthier lives, with the right support to stay well and live well. Our vision is built around four objectives we want for our people, our communities and our workforce:
Thriving Teams
Staff who feel valued, supported and able to give people the best possible care.
Healthier Communities
Communities with strong support, prevention at the heart, and more help closer to where we live.
Great Care
Safe, timely, high-quality care that is easier to access and shaped around people’s needs.
Positive Futures
Modern, sustainable services and facilities that help us meet future challenges with confidence.
We also have eight goals that will help us to achieve our objectives and vision.
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Why we need to change - and how we can all play a part
We first set out our A Healthier Mid and West Wales strategy in 2018. A lot has changed since then. We have all felt the impact of rising costs, the COVID‑19 pandemic, and increasing pressure on public services.
We said in our 2018 strategy we wanted to move from a health service that mainly treats illness to one that helps people stay healthy for longer. We want to provide more support for prevention and early help in local communities. These remain our core aims, but our strategy needs to respond to our changing world. Hospitals should not be the first place people turn to for help, and we need a more radical approach that focuses on prevention, earlier support and stronger communities.
We have listened to thousands of people across our communities, including our staff and partner organisations. Your views helped us understand what matters most and shaped a clearer, more honest picture of the choices ahead. We have heard you want more support earlier, closer to where you live, easier access to appointments and services, and a greater focus on preventing illness rather than reacting to it. We will continue to listen and we invite you to get involved.
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Our values
Our values remain the same and continue to guide how we work, how we make decisions, and how we care for people.
Our values as an organisation
Belonging – putting people at the heart of everything we do
Growth – striving to deliver and develop excellent services
Together – working together to be the best we can be
Our staff also have a set of personal behaviours that guides how we behave when we put our values into action. These are:
- Dignity, respect, fairness
- Integrity, honesty, openness
- Caring, kindness, compassion
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Thriving Teams
Thriving Teams is about creating the conditions where people feel healthy, confident and able to enjoy their work, work well together, and feel proud of the care they provide.
Goal 1: Healthy, thriving teams
Our teams take great pride in the care they provide, even when under pressure. When staff feel valued and have what they need to do their jobs well, it helps maintain the high standards and positive experiences people expect. Feeling well at work also supports the kindness and compassion our communities tell us they appreciate.
Goal 2: Customer service excellence
We want every interaction with us to feel supportive, kind and helpful. It means we will make every contact count through good communication, compassion and help that meets people’s needs first time.
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Healthier Communities
We are moving from a health service that responds to illness to one that prevents it. Our aim is to support healthier lives, well lived, where we live. It is a prevention-first approach.
Goal 3: 20four7
Our 20four7 approach will mean we focus on specific areas of need, reduce health inequalities, and act earlier to help people stay well.
This means
• We will focus on the 20% of communities with greatest need.
• We will target the four biggest risks in our health -smoking, poor nutrition, alcohol and physical inactivity.
• We will prioritise the seven areas that have the greatest impact on healthier lives (cancer; cardiovascular disease; child and maternal health; diabetes; frailty, falls and physical decline; mental health and substance misuse; and respiratory disease).
Goal 4: Community by design
We will take a Community by Design approach, meaning more care closer to where you live by providing services in the community first and only in the hospital when it can’t be provided closer to home.
• More care will take place in communities and people’s homes.
• We will aim to give people help earlier, before problems become more serious. This means spotting issues sooner, offering support in communities, and preventing avoidable illness or crisis. Earlier support helps people stay well for longer, reduces the need for hospital care, and improves overall health and wellbeing.
• We want hospitals to be able to focus on the most serious and complex care.
• There will be urgent, but non-life-threatening needs, that can be safely handled by primary care, pharmacies and community facilities. This will save you needing to travel and reduce long waits, and will also reduce pressure on our hospitals.
• Where services change location, we will make sure they remain safe, sustainable and based on clinical standards.
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Great Care
Great care means delivering timely, safe, evidence‑based care. We will reduce variation, be clearer about our performance, and use digital tools to give patients more control and information. Our goals support A Healthier Wales and are part of wider regional and national planning across NHS Wales.
Goal 5: People first, digital always
Most of us now use technology as part of our daily lives and expect to access services online. We will put Digital First and make it easier to access much of the care you need. People first, digital always doesn’t mean digital only. We will always provide alternatives for people who need them.
• We will make it easier to access advice, appointments and results from our digital tools
• Our digital services should link homes, communities and hospitals.
• This may include using technologies that reduce the need to travel, such as remote monitoring and virtual wards
Goal 6: Safe, timely, high-quality care
We will provide safe, timely, high-quality care:
Safe: Care that meets clinical standards and is delivered by the right teams
Timely: Support without unnecessary delays, with earlier help in communities
High Quality: Consistent, person-centred care in the best setting for your needs
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Positive Futures
We need to plan for today and our future. Children in our communities could be our future workforce and service users, so their voices need to help shape sustainable services that deliver the best outcomes for everyone in our communities.
Goal 7: Future orientated
We want to shape a healthier, fairer future by strengthening community connections, amplifying the voices of future generations, embedding our social model for health and wellbeing, reducing our environmental impact, and collaborating with partners to deliver lasting change.
To do this, we will focus on stronger communities, prevention and healthier lives.
Goal 8: Fit for purpose, modern facilities and services
We will improve our buildings, so we have fit-for-purpose modern facilities. We will use digital tools that work for everyone. We will work with others to keep our services strong and make sure they are financially sustainable. And we will build for future generations where children and young people can grow up healthy and hopeful.
Our buildings should be safe, modern and easy to use. We will improve older facilities, create better spaces in our communities, and make our hospitals easier to find your way around. We will also make them spaces that are accessible, strengthen digital connections, and make choices that are better for the environment and future generations.
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How we will make this happen
To make this strategy work, we need strong foundations. This means planning our resources carefully, using data and digital systems that work together, developing modern and flexible facilities, and working with partners, researchers and innovators to improve how we deliver care. We will also need to be radical in our approach, considering what we need to change, and how we might work differently as an organisation.
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Working together with you
Our strategy is not fixed; it will grow and change as we do. It gives us a clear vision to 2040, but we will keep reviewing it to make sure it reflects what people need.
We will continue to work with you, listen openly, and be honest about the choices we face, so we can shape a healthier future for everyone.
During our engagement we heard clearly that many people want to be part of the change.
A healthier future depends on all of us playing our part.
“Health isn’t just down to the NHS - we all have a part to play.”
“Communities help people stay well every day - we need to build on that.”
“We want clearer information so we can do our bit.”
“It has to be a joint effort; the NHS can’t do everything alone.”
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What this means for you
Continued involvement in shaping our services
Help to live a healthier life and prevent illness
Modern, flexible facilities designed for today and the future
Care that is better, safer and more consistent, wherever you live
More support earlier and closer to home
More joined-up care between services and teams
A better experience through kinder, clearer communication
Easier access to services, including digital option
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We will continue to listen, share and learn
This strategy belongs to all of us, and we will keep working with our communities as it develops.
We will regularly check if this strategy is working. We will monitor the improvements in the health of our communities. We will look at whether people are getting help earlier, if access to care is improving, and whether care is safer and more consistent. We will also listen to our staff and communities, and review how well our services are running, and keep sharing updates as we learn.
We are committed to being open about the choices we face, honest about the challenges, and clear about how your feedback influences the steps we take.
We will continue to share updates, listen to people’s experiences and learn from what matters to you.
If you want to find out more and have your say, join our community engagement and involvement scheme, Siarad Iechyd Talking Health, visit https://hduhb.nhs.wales/siarad-iechyd-talking-health/ or scan the QR code below.
You can also write to us at FREEPOST HYWEL DDA HEALTH BOARD