Cwm Taf UHB unveils new Health and Wellbeing Centre
A £1.5m Centre designed to transform care and support for people living with dementia will be launched by Cwm Taf University Health Board today.
The Health and Wellbeing Centre, based at the Ysbyty George Thomas site in Treorchy, is a vital part of the Health Board’s strategy to deliver the highest quality dementia care to individuals and their families across the South Wales Valleys.
The new facility promotes a move away from hospital based care and places the focus on how people with dementia can live well within the community if they have the right level of support in place.
A range of services including day care, assessments, clinics, community nursing, therapies and care home teams as well as local authority and third sector services, will be delivered from the Centre, which has been designed to reflect the strong history of the local area.
It is one of the key milestones in Cwm Taf’s Valley LIFE project, which has seen a range of sectors come together to develop plans to redesign care for people with dementia by helping them to live well in or closer to their own homes.
Alan Lawrie, Director of Primary, Community and Mental Health, said: “Cwm Taf’s vision is to deliver world-class dementia care and treatment for our communities and today’s launch is an exciting landmark in our work towards this.
“In coming years we will be putting in place a range of measures to shift our approach so we can improve early detection and diagnosis, increase independent living and work with partners to build dementia-friendly communities which provide the support people need.
“The new Health and Wellbeing Centre in Treorchy will help us to achieve our aim by becoming a vital resource for the community and delivering a range of innovative services for people and their families.”
Paul Davies, Assistant Director and project lead for Valley LIFE, said: “Evidence and experience tells us that the best treatment and care for older people, including those with dementia, is at home or as near to home as possible.
“We are modernising services and moving away from traditional ward care towards excellent and innovative community services and the launch of the new Health and Wellbeing Centre allows us to do just that.”
“Today’s event is the result of many years of hard work to look at how we can best achieve our vision. By working with colleagues across the Health Board as well as individuals, families and other organisations, we are determined to deliver first-class support for people living with dementia.”
