Wales to invest £7.8m to support elderly in Western Bay area

A package of investment in services to support older people in the Western Bay area of Wales has been unveiled by the Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas.

A range of intermediate care services are being delivered across the Western Bay  area, which covers Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend through their Health and Social Care Programme. To support this, they have received £7.8m from the Welsh Government’s £50m Intermediate Care Fund (ICF).

The ICF has been established to invest in services that will help ease pressure on the NHS by preventing unnecessary admissions to hospital and residential care and delayed discharges from hospital. The investment will drive forward joint working between local authority social services, health and housing, along with third and independent sector partners.

The investment will go to develop a range of proposals, including:

• A Common/single point of access for referrals into Intermediate care through a duty professional, a rapid clinical response team (setting up virtual wards in patients’ homes), step-up and step-down beds (for those patients needing to be stepped up to hospital care and stepped down into residential home beds), third sector brokerage (for signposting to community groups and support packages) and a 6-week reablement service that will focus on getting people back to independence and away from institutional care.
• Fully adapting sheltered accommodation in some areas to enable people to be appropriately accommodated while waiting for a more major adaptation to their own property, which may involve planning permission, or if they are delayed in hospital for a housing reason.
• Reablement services including occupational therapists to support independence at home. Care and Repair is receiving major support to allow it to deliver rapid access to minor adaptations, for example, hand rails and ramps to ensure people are supported to remain independent in their own homes.
• Third sector better at home care scheme – ensuring people receive the advice and information they need to be able to access wellbeing and preventative services in their own communities

At the heart of the new service is a model that is common across the three areas allowing service users to experience the same level of care wherever they live and not experience a ‘postcode lottery’.

Gwenda Thomas said:“The £7.8m that’s been awarded to the Western Bay area provides the region’s local authorities, working closely with the NHS and others partners, with an excellent opportunity to make a real difference to older people right across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend.

“The investments will see health, housing and social services, along with the third and independent sectors, work together on some very innovative projects to enable older people to maintain their independence and remain in their own home.

“This will help ease pressure on the NHS by preventing unnecessary hospital and residential care admissions, and will also help prevent delayed discharges from hospitals and other care settings for older people, particularly the frail elderly.”

Cllr Ali Thomas, Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council, added:“By working together in integrated teams health and social care services in the Western Bay area will be better placed to deliver the sort of care at home which people tell us they want. This programme aims to be sustainable and fit for a future which will see rising demand and increasing expectations so the support we are receiving from the Welsh Government comes at a vital stage on that journey.”