Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act – Duty to Engage

The Health and Social Care Quality and Engagement (Wales) Act aims to improve the quality of health and social care services in Wales by enhancing public engagement and ensuring transparency.

Key aspects include:​​ 

• Duty of Quality: This duty is placed on NHS bodies and Welsh Ministers to ensure continuous quality improvement in health services​ 
• Duty of Candour: This duty requires NHS service providers to be open and honest with patients and service users when things go wrong​ 
• Public Engagement: The act replaces community health councils with Llais, a new citizen body to ensure that the voices of the public are heard in health and social care services​ 

Engagement work can help inform decision making and help provide evidence within equality impact assessments.​ 

Llais has been set up by the Welsh Government. The aim of Llais is to make sure people in Wales can have a say about their health services and social care services - Llais Wales | LLais​ 

The Consultation Institute is an independent organisation that provide training and advice on best practice on consultation. consultationinstitute.org​

Further information: The Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act: summary [HTML] | GOV.WALES​