THE Welsh Government has provided £8million to help support people at the greatest risk to ensure they stay well this winter.

The funding will help those who are most vulnerable in communities across the nation to help them stay well and provide care at or as close to home as possible, helping to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.

The money will be used to increase community health and social care workforce capacity in the evenings and on weekends, which includes increased the hours of community nurses and end of life care clinical nurse specialists.

It will also go towards services like the assessment of people living with frailty or other complex needs and working on a plan to support their wellbeing and independence at home, particularly during illness or after injury. The care is tailored to the patient’s specific needs and can include community nursing, reablement, rehabilitative therapy, mental health support or a combination of those and other services.

The funding will be supporting services like the Carmarthenshire-based Delta Wellbeing’s Home First team who dedicate their time to providing support to people at home across the Hywel Dda University Health Board region – which research shows is better for recovery than being in hospital.

Welsh Government health minister Eluned Morgan – who visited Delta Wellbeing to find out more about its service - said: “What matters to older people in need of care and support is to be cared for in familiar surroundings with familiar people. They do not want to go to hospital unless it is really necessary.

“They are also less likely to lose their confidence and muscle strength, and less likely to pick up infections than in hospital.

“We are committed to driving change and transformation, and going further, faster to make sure more people can get the care and support they need at home or in their community. To enable this, learning about best practice needs to be shared across Wales.

“The Home First team in Carmarthenshire is a fantastic example of an integrated system which is delivering a radical, person-centred approach to wellbeing, care and support in the community. This is helping to avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and reducing pathways of care delays across the region.”

Julie Morgan, deputy minister for social services, said: “Good health and wellbeing are the key to our ability to enjoy life to its full. This is particularly important to people in the later years of their life.

“Older people have accumulated a lifetime of experience, knowledge and learning, and have significant roles to play in our society. We must reshape services, ensuring older people can continue to enjoy life, and ensuring our health and social care system is fit for the future and our increasingly ageing population.

“Our longer-term strategic vision is for a national care service in Wales.”

Almost £145m has been invested in projects delivered by health and social care partners to provide care closer to home in the last year. The funding has come from the Welsh Government Regional Integration Fund.