Plaid Cymru will ensure that the NHS in Wales is a health service not a sick service as part of its plans for the next Welsh government. The party will be putting forward ambitious proposals that will change the way health is looked at in Wales ensuring that prevention of ill-health is given as much a priority as treatment.
The party aims to create personal health plans that will be produced by health professionals looking at patients’ current health needs and help focus on health outcomes that individuals wish to achieve. The programmes will be designed to ensure that people remain healthy, spend less time in hospital, and live longer and fuller lives whilst decreasing the financial burden on the NHS.
Helen Mary Jones AM said:
“These proposals are about giving people the information they need to avoid illness before it becomes a major factor in their life. The approach is one that is focused on moving beyond the medical and tackling the causes not just the effects of ill-health. In the long term this approach will save the NHS a great deal of money and create a more health focused Wales.
Some people have advocated putting in place proposals that will have a one off look at people in their 50s and older, which is all well and good, but we know in many cases in Wales that will be too late.
Instead of just simply acknowledging that someone in their 50s has an illness we want to put in place personal care throughout life that will help people reach their latter stages healthier than ever before.
What the personal health plans will be focused on is not allowing people to get to the age of 50 with underlying health issues. Instead they will be caught early, or prevented altogether. It is about prevention as much as cure. We want to help put in place measures that ensure that avoidable illnesses are just that, avoided.”
