4. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services: Update on the Health and Social Services Regional Integration Fund

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 21 March 2023.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 3:26, 21 March 2023

(Translated)

May I echo the comments of the Deputy Minister in terms of our thanks to the health and care workforce for their tireless work? Thank you for today’s statement. There are very important principles here that we can all hopefully support, on the importance of supporting people to live independently in their communities and the need to transform services in a meaningful way to allow that to happen. This fund, of course, replaces the integrated care fund, which took the place of the intermediate care fund, if I’m right, which was subject to an agreement many years ago between Plaid Cymru and the Government. So, there are principles here that are ongoing and are being developed.

The question is to what extent are we seeing the kind of transformation that is needed. To be fair, it’s at quite an early stage still. The Minister has described this as a period when we move into a new modus operandi, but time is short, of course. We do need to see that transformation actually happening. With the six models of integrated care, for example, I would be grateful if the Minister could provide us with an update on the kind of spending profile that she anticipates. In terms of delivering against those principles, how will revenue and capital funding, which is scarce, be spent on delivering the new six models that are being developed?

For the second question I have, I don’t apologise for turning once again to the need for a revolution in attitudes in terms of preventative care, to make us a healthier nation and to get people to prepare to live independently within their communities over the long term. Plaid Cymru published five action points for health and care recently and that preventative element was one of the five points. In launching this fund last year, the Minister said that preventative community solutions were already being developed. Can the Minister, therefore, provide us with an update on how this fund is being used to develop that preventative element, which is so crucially important? Because unless we can tackle the issue of the preventative, we won’t be able to resolve the pressures on health and care services ultimately, and we will tend to go around in circles in such a scenario.