Healthcare Resources

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:05 pm on 13 December 2017.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 3:05, 13 December 2017

The money for delivering a much more appropriate primary healthcare estate is much appreciated, but I want to focus my question today on the delivery of services. I was particularly interested to read a report from The King's Fund on the success of Canterbury in New Zealand in limiting the rise and rise in demand for emergency services because of the investment in primary care services. This included having integrated teams, all of whom were valued. This included much better—many more primary care services, including 24-hour GP services, including observation beds to ensure that people weren't inappropriately admitted to hospital because people weren't sure whether or not they were seriously ill, and targeted falls prevention, which we know is one of the main causes why older people are admitted to hospital for emergency treatment. So, I'm just wondering whether you are thinking about the Canterbury, New Zealand service and the way in which it could influence the Welsh health service, because I know that Cardiff and the Vale is looking very closely at this. Do you think this is something that all health boards should be looking at as a model for future care or do you think this is very specific to Cardiff and the Vale?