Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 21 June 2016.
First Minister, key aims in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 are integrated consistency and co-operation in the delivery of services, yet the reality in Wales, here, is that there are 34 per cent of patients waiting well over six weeks for transfer home from an NHS bed. I know first-hand, from many casework issues arising, and indeed from recent personal experience, that the communication link between the health and social care practitioners is actually very poor and often leads to delays and a lack of provision of services for when people return home, often quite vulnerable. A joined-up approach in terms of occupational therapy, physiotherapy and district nurse care is essential, but very rarely available joined up. Through your three-year evaluation of this Act, how will you address these barriers in order to meet the pledges contained within your Government’s Act, to make it meaningful and relevant to those very people who desperately depend on it?