Madam,

The letter from the North Ceredigion Forum for Elderly Care draws our attention once more to the evasive and counter-productive responses so often utilised by Ceredigion County Council when challenged by members of the public it is required to serve.

If there is any sincerity in the claims made by Welsh Government that public sector organisations should be transparent in their communication and particularly in health and social care and should enable co-production with their communities in order to facilitate integration and joined-up care, then it is hard to comprehend that attendance of a council official and a responsible councillor should be precluded due to the nature of any meeting where they have been invited to explain the inadequacies of the services being provided and what remedial action they are taking and planning.

Ceredigion council frequently displays behaviour of an organisation lacking in ability, confidence, and commitment to accurate information and meaningful dialogue with its population and now has resorted to the flight of frightened animals.

I am sure there is no need to recall here the instances where the public voice has been ignored and/or where decisions have been shrouded in mystery.

Ceredigion council is fortunate to have organisations such as the Aber Group and the North Ceredigion Forum for Elderly Care, with members of both having considerable collective knowledge and experience and being willing and able to discuss issues from the users’ perspective and advise the council free of charge.

It is also fortunate in having a health board that is awake to the problems of adult social care and committed to work in partnership to overcome the inadequate provision both in residential nursing homes and domiciliary care support workers.

In addition the council has every opportunity, through the Regional Leaders Group, Regional Partnership Board and the Public Services Board to lobby for, and share in, various funding streams from Welsh Government.

There are now approximately 50 per cent more profiling beds in people’s homes across the health board area than there are hospital beds of all kinds (1,084) in Hywel Dda hospitals.

The prospects of delivering safe and kind care are bleak unless all potential carers (informal, commissioned, third sector and neighbourly support) are urgently mobilised, properly trained and effectively deployed . Failure to do so will damage the ability to deliver acute hospital services.

Integration of Health and Social Care demands a complete change of perspective by the council.

When patients are suffering from pressure ulcers or lying in a soiled bed through lack of properly trained support workers and carers in sufficient numbers, they will not readily accept that the council has ‘resource issues’ as attributed to household waste collection, or that they will simply need to roll over and wait for the next visit from a competent care worker.

Yours etc, Bill Parker, Llanfair Clydogau, Lampeter.

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