Welsh Healthcare: Lib Dems launch initiative

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have launched a 10-point health plan, which they claim would have an immediate impact on the NHS "crisis" in Wales.

The plan was unveiled in Cardiff on Monday, and contains a series of policies designed to deliver a better health service for the country.

Walk-in centres would be introduced to work alongside surgeries and ease the burden on A&E departments, and better use would be made of diagnostic equipment including the seven-day use of MRI scanners.

Welsh Lib Dems also want to ensure community hospitals are used to provide intermediate care to reduce the risk of premature discharge from hospitals and emergency re-admission.

Cardiff Councillor John Dixon, said the plan could be implemented quickly and would "deliver the health service Wales needs and deserves".

And he added: "The doctors, nurses, ambulance crews and other staff who work in the health service in Wales do a fantastic job. But they need more support and assistance from government."

'Carrying on regardless'

Other measures in the plan include the recruitment of more staff, scrapping the government’s obsession with short-term initiatives, and extending the second offer scheme to those waiting over nine months.

The Lib Dems would also introduce pilot incentive systems, free prescriptions for the chronically-ill and more ambulance cover in rural areas.

Kirsty Williams, the party's health spokesman in the Welsh assembly, said: "These proposals show what could be done to solve the problems in the NHS in Wales.

"It is a plan that concentrates on improvements to the NHS that could be delivered quickly.

"What the NHS does not need is the complacent 'carry on regardless’ attitude of the present government."