The demands on our health and social care services have increased significantly over the last few years.
We need a more sustainable care system that enables us to live independently for long as possible, focuses as much on mental health as physical health and where our health and social care services are seamlessly integrated. Our services must be centred around our patients and users, not the other way round.
The work has begun, but it is not going to be a quick, or easy, process. It is essential that change is managed carefully and that we listen, not only to our skilled and dedicated staff, but also to those who use our services, carers and third party organisations with whom we work.
What I’ve been doing…….
Since I became Deputy Minister of the Health and Social Services Department, I have been intimately involved in the beginning of its transformation. I successfully called for a comprehensive financial review before I was on the Board. The findings from the subsequent report have provided the much needed evidence to make the right decisions for the future of health and social care services.
For the first time, we presented a budget to the States that reflected the current costs of the service. Not only that, but we also set out a plan for the next 5 years to manage these costs and transform the way we do things.
We have laid good foundations in many areas and I am excited about the direction we are going. I can see we are beginning to make a difference. If elected, I want to lead the transformation to ensure continuity of leadership, stability and the minimum of delay.