Hywel Dda University Health Board and its partners are celebrating a year since the publication of A Healthier Wales – a Welsh Government plan to make it easier for the NHS and social care to work together and with others, to help people stay healthy and independent for as long as possible.

The Regional Partnership Board, which includes health board, local authority and third sector representation, has received £12 million from the national Transformation Fund.

The money will be used to support three ambitious programmes focusing on proactive, technology-enabled care for people in their homes; further integration of health and care within localities and; supporting people to remain independent and fulfilled through enhancing volunteering opportunities and developing grass-routes support within different communities. Delivery of these exciting programmes will commence across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire in the coming months, with a commitment to engage with individuals and local communities in bringing the change about.

These initiatives will complement three transformation programmes being launched by the health board this week to support delivery of its own health and care strategy A Healthier Mid and Wales, aligning with A Healthier Wales principles and objectives.

The programmes are Transforming Our Communities, Transforming Our Hospitals and Transforming Mental Health and Learning Disabilities.

The launch will take place at Llandybie Hall on Friday June 14, at a workshop for staff and stakeholders.

The workshop will involve exercises and feedback which will inform the development of the three programmes of work in order to achieve the shared vision for people in our communities to live joyful, healthy and purposeful lives with a strong sense of belonging.

This forms a part of the continuous engagement the health board is undertaking as it works towards delivering the strategy following consultation last year. Further staff, public and stakeholder drop-in events on specific topics will continue to be held across the region as the year one priorities are determined.

Chief Executive Steve Moore said: “One year on from the launch of A Healthier Wales, we are delighted to be working collaboratively with a range of partners on delivering more joined up and innovative care and support for our population. Thanks to this funding, we are now ready to scale up and look at even more transformational change, working with our communities, in the areas of integration, community connections and resilience and technology enabled care. We look forward to sharing our progress in this as this work gets underway. We are also pleased to be launching three programmes of work to support the health board’s health and care strategy – A Healthier Mid and West Wales. This will sit alongside our projects through the Regional Partnership Board, placing us at the cusp of a dramatic, once in a generation shift in how we provide care and support in this part of Wales.”

Health Minister, Vaughan Gething said: “A year ago we launched A Healthier Wales, the Welsh Government’s long-term plan to transform the way we deliver health and social care. I am pleased we’ve already allocated more than £80m of the £100m Transformation Fund to back projects which can eventually be scaled-up to deliver the vision set-out in A Healthier Wales.

A Healthier Wales is the first time we’ve set out a shared plan for health and social care, which emphasises the importance of these services working seamlessly together. In order to meet the demands of the future we need to radically change the way services are delivered. We need to move away from healthcare which focuses on treating people when they become unwell, to one that supports people to stay well, lead healthier lifestyles and live independently for as long as possible.”

A web resource – www.hywelddahb.wales.nhs.uk/healthiermidandwestwales has also been launched so our communities can access information on the bilingual health and care strategy, including alternative versions such as animation, BSL, audio youth, Easy Read and other languages.