SAM ROWLANDS, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, is calling for local councils to receive the right amount of money available so they can pay care homes properly.
Speaking on BBC Politics Wales, Mr Rowlands, Shadow Health Minister urged the Welsh Labour Government to do more to help local authorities.
He said: “It’s kind of a false economy pitching social care against health services, because we know that there are hundreds and hundreds of beds in our hospitals at the moment which are blocked because people cannot access the care services that they need.
“The problem is that the Welsh Government want to do everything themselves instead of bringing different sectors together.
“Welsh Government should ditch their ideological obsessions and embrace a social care system where public, private and charity sectors work in tandem to improve social care.”
The programme highlighted the differences in fees for care homes in North Wales with the most basic care in Conwy County being £846 a week, but in Denbighshire they are only £774.
Mr Rowlands added: “It is vitally important that Welsh Government start to get a grip of this situation as most of our local councils are struggling to balance their budgets and services are under threat.
“As Shadow Health Minister I find it extremely concerning that not enough is being done by the Welsh Government to address social care and ensure local authorities are adequately funded for this.”
