“We call on Welsh Government to finally acknowledge that Hywel Dda Health Board is unable to cope with the challenges it faces and that the position has become unsustainable. Despite some additional government funding, key services have become increasingly fragile with patient safety being called into question.
Fully integrated community care would be an effective way of relieving much of the pressure being placed on our hospitals but despite the consensus for this change there has been frustratingly slow movement in this direction.
Separate management structures do not support such an integrated approach and, as it has proved, neither Health nor the local Authorities can deliver the required degree of change alone.
For integrated care to become a reality the capacity within primary, community and social care must be significantly increased and work seamlessly across boundaries. Integrated primary healthcare and public health teams comprising of a comprehensive range of clinical, non-medical and social care professionals would be in a far better position to address the challenges of an ageing population than the inconsistent nature of the existing organisational arrangements.
We therefore call on Welsh government to facilitate the establishment of a Community Health and Care service charged with the delivery and overall management of an integrated social model for health and care throughout the Hywel Dda area. The service would be democratically accountable to the electorate through the three local authorities and to the health board who would retain statutory responsibility for their functions and staff”.
Minutes:
Council considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Gareth John:
“We call on Welsh Government to finally acknowledge that Hywel Dda Health Board is unable to cope with the challenges it faces and that the position has become unsustainable. Despite some additional government funding, key services have become increasingly fragile with patient safety being called into question.
Fully integrated community care would be an effective way of relieving much of the pressure being placed on our hospitals but despite the consensus for this change there has been frustratingly slow movement in this direction.
Separate management structures do not support such an integrated approach and, as it has proved, neither Health nor the local Authorities can deliver the required degree of change alone.
For integrated care to become a reality the capacity within primary, community and social care must be significantly increased and work seamlessly across boundaries. Integrated primary healthcare and public health teams comprising of a comprehensive range of clinical, non-medical and social care professionals would be in a far better position to address the challenges of an ageing population than the inconsistent nature of the existing organisational arrangements.
We therefore call on Welsh government to facilitate the establishment of a Community Health and Care service charged with the delivery and overall management of an integrated social model for health and care throughout the Hywel Dda area. The service would be democratically accountable to the electorate through the three local authorities and to the health board who would retain statutory responsibility for their functions and staff”.
The following amendment to the motion was proposed by Cllr R. James and duly seconded:
“Delete paragraph 1 to 4 and replace with:
On the 26th of March, the Executive Board voted unanimously for new regional pooled funding arrangements and the West Wales Area Plan 2018 - 23 to deliver seamless services between health and social care.
Primary care in West Wales has a number of challenges, due to the ongoing austerity measures of the UK Government coupled with the Prime Minister's skilled workers migration target that is impacting our ability to recruit, and we need to ensure that health boards are in the best possible position to deal with these challenges.
In paragraph 5, delete after 'We therefore call on the Welsh Government to' and replace with:
Conduct an urgent review to assess each health boards ability to deliver the Welsh Government's objectives”.
The Head of Administration and Law was asked by the Chair to provide legal advice on the amendment and advised that, in her view, it did not constitute an amendment and was, in effect, a motion in its own right.
The Chair, having considered the advice ruled the amendment to be inappropriate and could not be accepted.
The proposer and seconder of the Motion were afforded the opportunity of speaking in support thereof and outlined the reasons for its submission, as set out in the Motion.
A number of statements were made both for, and against, the Motion and, following a vote, Council
RESOLVED that the Motion be supported.