INTEGRATING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Streamlining the Health and Social Care system is a fundamental part of Plaid Cymru’s plans to stop delayed discharges of care from hospital. Plaid Cymru‘s plans to fully integrate Health and Social Care will also free up more resources that can be reinvested into community health service so that people can receive quality care as close to home as possible. Plaid Cymru has said that breaking down the barriers that exist between Health and Social Services will bring down waiting lists and strengthen the NHS.

Plaid Cymru’s Ceredigion candidate Mike Parker said:

“When Health and Social Care services work well together the patient gets the care and support they need as close to home as possible on every step of the way. 

"But at the moment the arbitrary borders that exist between services lead to delayed transfers of care, and a lack of community care means that often patients become emergency cases because they can’t access the care they need sooner.

“Social Care has historically been the poorer cousin of health and has lacked the same status. This has made it an easy target for cuts, but this has only led to more pressure on the health service.

“Plaid Cymru wants to break down these unnecessary barriers so that we can streamline the service and give patients the wraparound care they need. 

"By integrating Health and Social Care we can address these problems, free up more resources to invest in community health services and make sure that patients receive consistent care and support every step of the way.”