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Steve Thomas CBE Chief Executive Prif Weithredwr
Welsh Local Government Association Local Government House Drake Walk CARDIFF CF10 4LG Tel: 029 2046 8600 Fax: 029 2046 8601
Cymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru Tŷ Llywodraeth Leol Rhodfa Drake CAERDYDD CF10 4LG Ffôn: 029 2046 8600 Ffacs: 029 2046 8601
www.wlga.gov.uk
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Our Ref/Ein Cyf:
Your Ref/Eich Cyf:
Date/Dyddiad: 3 June 2013
Please ask for/Gofynnwch am: Martyn Palfreman
Direct line/Llinell uniongyrchol: (029) 2046 8658
Email/Ebost: martyn.palfreman@wlga.gov.uk
Vaughan Gething AM
Chair, Health and Social Care Committee
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA
Dear Vaughan,
Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Bill
Further to our helpful discussions with you on 17 May, we are pleased to submit further evidence on behalf of the WLGA, ADSS Cymru and the Welsh NHS Confederation.
It is our intention that this shared view:
· Contributes to strengthening the current provisions on the face of the Bill; and
· Demonstrates our genuine desire to improve collaboration and integration across health and social care.
As articulated in previous evidence to the Committee, our view is that the current provision on the face of the Bill (s143) dilutes existing legislation in relation to integration and partnership working[1] and appears to be an unambitious response, given the scale of the challenge. Our joint view is that the legislation as currently drafted would do relatively little to facilitate genuine collaborative working on the ground and, whilst intending to be enabling, it could undermine existing statutory duties.
We believe the Bill needs to provide a clear vision for integration, enabling local authorities, the NHS and other partners to work constructively together whilst recognising their distinctive contributions. It should require local authorities and NHS to work in partnership, through local statements of intent, appropriate joint governance mechanisms, and proportionate shared performance management arrangements.
As such, we would advocate that the existing provision within the Bill is strengthened by adding provisions that draw on those already enshrined within the Carers Strategies (Wales) Measure and the Mental Health (Wales) Measure, in relation to joint strategies or schemes.
We believe these proposals embrace the evidence set out in key documents published by partners such as the King’s Fund and Ernst and Young. The research identifies the key enablers of successful integration as a focus on frontline delivery, as opposed to organisational structures. Delivery needs to be shaped around the ‘whole care’ needs of the citizen, through community-based, integrated care networks, flexible resource management across health and local government, and adaptability across professional roles. This emphasis on whole system responses to the needs of citizens will help also to establish arrangements which are more effective in providing individual families with real voice and control when decisions are made about how care and support will be provided.
Yours sincerely
Martyn Palfreman
Head of Social Services Directorate, WLGA
Helen Birtwhistle,
Director, Welsh NHS Confederation
Phil Evans
President, ADSS Cymru
CC Steve Thomas CBE, Welsh Local Government Association
Emily Warren, WLGA