Sciana Member John Palmer discusses the importance of partnerships in health care delivery

Sciana Member interviewed by BBC News Wales as NHS prepares for busiest time of year

Sciana Member John Palmer has discussed the importance of partnerships in health care delivery as part of an interview with BBC News Wales.

Palmer, a member of the 2017 Sciana cohort, spoke to the BBC in his position as chief operating officer of the Cwm Taf University Health Board.

Four days into Palmer's new position last winter, the Royal Glamorgan Hospital experienced its busiest day on record.

Speaking to the BBC, he said, "We were expecting five to six additional patients a day - we had planned for that. We had as many as 32 patients a day from January onwards.

"I was amazed how NHS staff held it together but partnerships are absolutely essential and there's no way the health service can deliver what it does by itself - you need local authorities, police and fire services and a broad range of voluntary organisations, the Red Cross, St John's and others."

Read the article in full here.

Sciana: The Health Leaders Network is designed to bring together outstanding leaders in health and health care policy and innovation. The network provides members space to take inspiration and learning from across the globe, and time to share insights gained as well as their own experiences with peers, with whom they will work to address some of the shared challenges we are facing across Europe. The Sciana network is supported by a partnership between the Health Foundation (UK), Careum Stiftung (Switzerland) and the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany) in collaboration with Salzburg Global Seminar.