Gwynedd Council has decided to establish a new home care model in the county which is focused on helping older people to live their lives the way they want.

Over the past two years, Gwynedd Council and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board have been working together to develop the way that home care is provided in the county, with the aim of extending the new model across the county.

Cllr Dafydd Meurig, Gwynedd Council Cabinet member for care, said: “A lot of excellent work has been carried out together with the health board in specific communities to pilot this new way of working.

“Traditionally, home care has tended to concentrate on completing particular tasks at specific times of the day within allocated timeslots. But of course, this way of working doesn’t allow much flexibility to discuss and understand what is really important to the individual and to see exactly what kind of care support they truly need.

“Our aim in establishing a new home care model for Gwynedd is to bring all relevant agencies and individuals together to work more efficiently on the local level.

“We have already seen through the pilot schemes that this allows us to offer support that is tailored more specifically to the needs and desires of the people receiving the home care.”

As part of the decision, the intention will be to establish a new model of providing and commissioning home care on a sub-area basis in Gwynedd, with – dependent on their decision in due course – joint commissioning with the health board.

It was also decided to ask for a mixed market to be held which would mean that the council would continue to provide at least half of the home care market in communities in the county, along with external specialist companies in other communities.

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