Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 7 December 2016.
I thank the Member for the second question. In terms of resources, we’ve just had a debate about the budget and we have to allocate budgets to each of our areas, recognising the reality of the restricted finance we have available to us. The challenge is not always about money, but I think the points that you finished on are really about the culture in the care that we provide and the way that that is commissioned, largely by local authorities, but in terms of the commissioning of healthcare as well, and what we would all expect for ourselves and our own loved ones too.
That point about the dignity with which people are treated, that really is about listening to and properly engaging with the individual and their carers. That goes in to the direction of travel of this Government’s policy over a long period of time. It was started off previously by Gwenda Thomas in bringing a range of matters together about the citizen’s voice within social care. And actually, for the health service too, there is something about catching up some of the ground that social care has made. It’s not on an even basis—it’s uneven within social care; we recognise that—but it’s about generally having a greater engagement with and listening to the individual and their family and working with someone to deliver healthcare, rather than simply providing healthcare to or at a person.
So, there are real challenges here, but I think we should all take some comfort in the fact that, the overwhelming majority of the time, health and social care deliver great dignity and compassion in the care that’s provided. But there shouldn’t be any reason or expectation that we’ll become complacent about the quality of care that is delivered.