Janet Finch-Saunders, Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy, has challenged Mark Drakeford MS, First Minister, on the Welsh Government’s approach to health and social care, following the disturbing experience by a member of her own family.
The Member’s 98-year-old relative was discharged from hospital and left sat in a chair at home, hardly able to move. But for the family’s intervention, he would have been stuck there until carers arrived the next day.
Addressing the First Minister in the Senedd today, Janet said:
“A 98-year-old member of my family, who has mobility issues and a broken shoulder, was recently discharged by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and sent home with no care package in place.
“Having spoken to an official, I have been advised that this is not a unique case.
“Other vulnerable patients are being discharged to their homes without care packages in place.
“In their 2021 manifesto, Labour promised to legislate to strengthen partnerships to deliver better integrated care and health. The guidance the Frist Minister is promising to publish next month is not legislation.
“There is clear evidence that the breakdown in communication between health and social care in North Wales is posing a serious threat to vulnerable residents’ wellbeing, so the Welsh Government must take legislative action to ensure that nobody else is left in such a vulnerable position”.
ENDS
