MORE than 1,400 people with dementia will be stranded in hospital on Christmas Day due to the crisis in social care, a charity warns today.
Dementia patients wait up to 10 times longer to be discharged than those without the condition, an investigation by the Alzheimer’s Society has found.
A £2b billion shortfall in social care funding is “turning wards into waiting rooms,” said the report, which is based on analysis of hospital audits.
With more people dying each year and many spending their final days in institutions, researchers argue that wider access to palliative care could offer a more humane and cost-effective alternative, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
We need a massive change in direction to renew a crumbling health service — that’s why Plaid Cymru has an ambitious plan to recentre primary care by recruiting 500 additional GPs and opening six new elective care hubs across Wales, writes MABON AP GWYNFOR


