South-East Wales Regional Joint Committee (RJC)
The South-East Wales Regional Joint Committee (RJC) represents an evolution of and step change in the potential for these existing arrangements and is a strategic collaboration established by direction of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. It more formally brings together Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board to oversee regional planning and service delivery for a catchment population exceeding 1.5 million, noting the service provision of these organisations reaches beyond this.
The RJC is formed under the powers of the Welsh Ministers pursuant to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006. It is not a separate legal entity but a joint committee accountable to the Boards of the three constituent health boards. Each board delegates certain functions to the RJC, which is bound by these decisions under the schedule of delegated powers. The health boards retain ultimate responsibility for the planning and delivery of health services to their populations but may choose to be bound by a majority view at the joint committee.
The RJC has been established to:
- Create a step change in the effectiveness of arrangements to collaborate across the regional footprint in the interests of our shared population, marking a change in the way we work collectively as health boards.
- Provide collective leadership for the regional planning, commissioning, and delivery of services for the population served by the three health boards, considering the service challenges, financial challenges and population health needs of all three organisations.
- Establish a regional approach to the development of clinical services planning, aligned to regional population health needs assessments, to develop and deliver sustainable services in terms of achieving quality and outcome measures, workforce and financial sustainability.
- Identifying priorities for the three health boards, where a regional approach will deliver benefit.
- Explore how the benefits of a regional health economy are harnessed to best serve the south-east Wales population of over 1.5million.
- Reduce unwarranted variation and inequality in health outcomes, access to services and experience at a regional population level.
As a strategic partnership of the three Health Boards in the region, the RJC will adopt and embed the following four partnership principles into its business and operating arrangements.
The RJC will be:
- A partnership with a system focus which seeks to collectively agree the outcomes it wants for its combined population.
- A partnership that is a system enabler.
- A low bureaucracy, high trust partnership.
- A partnership of constructive behaviours.