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Community workforce planning essential to Welsh government's integrated health and social care vision – RCN

Welsh government moves to achieve seamless treatment, care and support close to home

Welsh government moves to achieve seamless treatment, care and support close to home


Vaughan Gething

RCN Wales said detailed workforce planning will be needed to achieve the long-term vision for health and social care set out by the Welsh government.

Proposals in the report, A Healthier Wales, focus on bringing care closer to patients' homes.

The Welsh government has earmarked £100 million for a transformation fund to implement the country’s first shared health and social care plan.

Under the proposal, health and social care in Wales will be presented as a ‘single package of support, care or treatment, tailored to the needs and preferences of the person, even if it is made up of services delivered by several different providers’.

‘Detailed workforce planning is imperative for the transition from hospital to community care and must include sufficient qualified district and community nurses’

RCN Wales spokesperson

The Welsh government will commission Health Education and Improvement Wales, and Social Care Wales to develop a long-term workforce strategy with NHS and local government, the voluntary and independent sectors as well as regulators, professional bodies and education providers.

RCN Wales said: ‘It is imperative that detailed workforce planning is undertaken for the transition from hospital to community care for patients. This planning must include sufficient qualified district and community nurses to ensure the appropriate levels of care can be achieved.

‘We expect to work with Welsh government and NHS in Wales as this plan is put in place, ensuring the nursing voice is heard at every level.’

The plan is a response to a parliamentary review of health and social care in Wales earlier this year that called for a revolution in the way services are delivered.

Welsh health secretary Vaughan Gething said: ‘We have to move on from the idea hospital is the first or best place for you to be when you are unwell. That isn’t always the case, especially when there are a range of local services that will allow you to remain safely at home.’


 

Further information

A Healthier Wales: our Plan for Health and Social Care


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