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Up to £30m is set to be invested into delivering more care at home and in the community, in a bid to reduce the amount of time people spend in hospitals.

It is hoped the Welsh Government funding will help reduce pressure on hospital beds and allow more people to recover at home.

Wales’ health minister, Eluned Morgan, spoke of how there is predicted to be 150,000 more people aged 75 and above in Wales in less than 20 years time – with a 61.3% increase in the people aged 85 and above.

Mrs Morgan said: “Older people contribute hugely to Welsh society and they tell us what matters to them is fairly simple – if they need care and support, they want to be cared for in familiar surroundings with familiar people and do not want to go to hospital unless this is really necessary.

“Research has also shown that people recover better in the comfort of their own home rather than in hospital, where they are less likely to become deconditioned and less likely to pick up infections. We must focus on transforming the way we provide care to enable this.”

Mrs Morgan said she has told health boards that “addressing the issue of delayed transfers of care needs to be their number one priority”.

“Without improving the flow through hospitals, almost all other aspects of health care, including waiting lists, will be impacted. This additional funding should help them with that challenge.”

Later this year, Wales’ deputy minister for social services, Julie Morgan, will set out the Welsh Government’s long-term vision for strengthening social care.

She said she wants to see “consistency” across Wales in the “standards of care frail people can expect to get in their community” – with the view to creating a “community care service for Wales”.

The deputy minister continued: “I was impressed and encouraged by what was achieved by local authorities and health boards this winter in securing 670 extra community beds across Wales. But now we need to go further, faster to make sure more people can get the care and support they need at home or in their community and spend less time in hospitals.”

Eluned Morgan added: “This isn’t about the workforce working harder – our amazing health and care staff are already doing everything they can – this is about how decision makers must reshape services so they are fit for the future.”

Nesta Lloyd-Jones, assistant director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said: “While this announcement is a positive step, more needs to be done to increase capacity in community care not only to catch up with current demand, but to ensure it keeps up with the projected growing needs of our population in the years to come.

“We look forward to seeing the long-term vision for strengthening social care at the earliest opportunity.” 

Caerphilly’s Labour Senedd Member, Hefin David, said: “We are already seeing social care support being carried out locally through community groups, like Caerphilly Miners Centre. They are supporting older people socially, mentally and emotionally and I am working with them to ensure they receive the long-term funding needed to be able to continue to support the growing number of people they are seeing.

“However, we need to see further support in the community locally for the treatment of physical health issues. This substantial amount of funding will help to achieve that and in turn, will help reduce the backlog in hospitals. “