Transforming the NHS through people power: why we’re working with NFWI Wales

Guest blog written by Helen Howson, Director, Bevan Commission

100 years ago, the Women’s Institute was founded to improve the lives of communities and contribute to the war effort. The first WI meeting in the UK took place in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey, establishing a strong Welsh voice for an organisation that has since become the largest women’s voluntary organisation in the UK.

The ‘jam and Jerusalem’ image of the WI fails to honour their serious role in campaigning for a wide variety of social issues in their 100-year history. WI members have a strong history of campaigning on important health matters – sometimes many years before these issues became mainstream.

The WI first campaigned against smoking in public places in 1964, and was an early voice for providing accurate information around the AIDS epidemic and removing its stigma. Its work to improve the health and wellbeing of women and communities across the UK continues through campaigns to increase the number of midwives in the NHS and to reduce domestic violence.

WI members work tirelessly to improve their local communities and have a strong social conscience. I have seen first-hand through my Mother, who is a long-standing member of the WI Glamorgan Federation, how supportive this network is within its communities and how powerful it can be in bringing about real change. Therefore, when it came to transforming the future of the NHS through people power, NFWI Wales was my first call.

The Bevan Commission is Wales’ leading think tank for health and care, established in 2008. We bring together 22 Bevan Commissioners – eminent experts in the NHS, academia and industry – to provide independent, authoritative advice on health and care to leaders in Welsh Government, NHS Wales and beyond. We identify and share best practice from healthcare systems around the world, building on the principles of the NHS as first articulated by Aneurin Bevan in 1948. Our aim is to ensure that we have a health and care system which is fit for the future not just the past.

We translate this thinking into action on the frontline of the NHS, by supporting health professionals to trial and test out their new ideas in their own hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes through our Bevan Exemplar scheme.

As important as it is to inspire change through policymakers and NHS workers, we believe that we can only truly transform the future of the health system by also working with people, patients and communities. That is why we want WI members across Wales to join discussions and take action to make good health and care everyone’s responsibility.

The NHS, which turned 70 earlier this year, faces real challenges in terms of limited resources, rising demands and a shrinking workforce. We all have to ensure that we use the health system responsibly and act as change agents in our own towns, villages and cities. Do you sometimes see the GP when you could see a pharmacist? Do you help others in your community who may need non-medical care? Do you provide feedback on health services in your area?

These are some of the questions we will be asking WI members to discuss in their meetings, and we will also provide a comprehensive resource pack for those that want explore this issue in more detail, including inspirational case studies of wellbeing champions in their workplaces and communities.

We know that people in Wales and WI members are passionate about the NHS and its Welsh origins, and we would like to capture and use this passion to create a ‘social movement for change’. We want to change the dependency on medical solutions when other simple solutions may be more effective and cause less harm. We want to make sure we use these important skills and resources wisely and help everyone to take care of themselves  and others in ways which may not need drugs, tests or other interventions - when maybe a cup of tea and a chat will do the trick instead.  

We hope that you will join us in 2019 to have conversations and together take actions which transform our NHS through people power, just as we did when it as created. By working together, using all our wisdom, skills and connections, we can make sure we maintain the very best health and NHS - our ’jewel in the crown’ - for future generations to come.