A National Care Service for Wales
Plaid Cymru has been working to deliver a National Care Service for Wales. We believe that social care, like health care, should be free at the point of use, and that the distinction between the two is artificial. Ending this distinction will also help with reducing Delayed Transfers of Care, the time that people remain in hospital rather than care settings. We will continue to work towards this goal, particularly to support those with dementia.
We support John’s Campaign for the right of people to be supported by their family carers and will provide clarity that it is a human right for family visits to care homes to support patients with dementia.
Also, in line with the National Care Service, Plaid Cymru is committed to the consultation on the elimination of profit in children’s services provision. Our aim is to work towards the gradual expansion in capacity of direct provision, in both children’s services and adult services to achieve this.
We support the health and social care workforce in Wales, whatever their country of origin. Restrictions on visas for care workers and dependents is counter-productive when we are looking to recruit additional staff to underpin our institutions. Instead, staff should be provided with the most appropriate support to allow them to integrate into Welsh society.
We will pay social care workers at least £1 above the Real Living Wage in order to make the job more attractive and improve recruitment, and make this index linked. This would ensure that a full-time worker was paid greater than £1,800 more than the Real Living Wage.