A HEALTH partnership including Hywel Dda Health Board has been awarded funding of more than £1m from the Welsh Government.

Health minister Mark Drakeford announced the £1.2m of funding for ARCH, A Regional Collaboration for Health, and is a partnership between Hywel Dda, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board, Swansea University and local authorities amongst others.

The scheme is aimed at joint research, education and service improvement using technology to help strengthen health services across the region and will identify new services to operate across Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend.

Those services will be planned based on providing care closer to the homes of patients and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.

Mr Drakeford said: “Through the ARCH project, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and Hywel Dda health boards will be able to drive their future development in ways which genuinely integrate health and care services, using new technologies and services to improve access to care, personalised to each patient.”