ADDITIONAL FUNDING ALLOCATED TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF CAERPHILLY COUNTY BOROUGH RESIDENTS

Caerphilly Local Health Board (LHB) today announced that it has been allocated £3.7 million for the remainder of this year and then £5.2 million annually thereafter by the Welsh Assembly Government to implement the recommendations from the Review of Health and Social Care advised by Derek Wanless.

The money will be used by Caerphilly LHB to address six main themes in terms of investment in services – older people, chronic disease management, elective or planned services, primary care, mental health and women and children. In order to provide these new services, Caerphilly LHB will work in partnership with the voluntary sector, local authority and Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust.

A total of £30 million has been made available to all LHBs across Wales and will continue to be given on a recurring basis each year. ‘Securing Our Future Health: Taking A Long-Term View’ – an independent review by Derek Wanless – is the first ever evidence-base assessment of the long-term resource requirements for the NHS. It concludes that in order to meet people’s expectations and to deliver the highest quality of care over the next 20 years, the UK will need to devote more resources to health care and that this must be matched by reform to ensure that these resources are used effectively.

Judith Paget, chief executive of Caerphilly LHB, said: “I am delighted that the Welsh Assembly Government has given us the funding to be able to implement the Wanless Local Action Plan. Life expectancy in Caerphilly County Borough is the fourth worst out of all local authority areas in Wales and we need to increase opportunities and access to healthy lifestyle choices. This funding will enable us to put in place initiatives that begin to address these problems and is the first step towards improving the health of the residents of Caerphilly.”

One of the initiatives that will be implemented is the development of services that can be delivered to patients in their own homes and in the community, rather than at a hospital. This includes the development of multi-agency/professional community teams to support people at home and more effective management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and respiratory illness, through GP and community based services.

Provision will also be made for the development of more Healthy Living Centres initiatives aimed at providing more people with the opportunity to access activities such as exercise, diet advice and information.

Ms Paget concluded: “We have just come to the end of a public consultation period about the proposed new hospital and services in the County Borough and are very pleased that so many people came to the public meetings that were held to give their views on the proposed changes. We look forward to receiving the recommendations from Gwent Community Health Council and to moving ahead in improving the standard of healthcare for all residents of Caerphilly, which starts with the proposals outlined in our Local Action Plan.”