Investing in social care in order to provide better pay for frontline staff would help relieve the dire NHS crisis in North Wales.

That’s the view of Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales, who said something had to be done urgently to sort out the problem of so-called “bed blocking” with hospitals struggling to admit patients because many of those already there were unable to be discharged because there was nowhere for them to go.

One of the priorities was to replace the current patchwork approach was a national fee structure with fair fees that reflected the true cost of care and enabled providers to pay staff what they deserved.

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Ms Wimbury said: “What we have to do is to make the system work together with health boards and local authorities recognising that their own attitudes in terms of how they commission care and how they pay for it is causing the crisis in social care.

“It’s a lot cheaper to care for people in their own homes and in care homes than it is in hospitals, so we can free up money by investing properly in social care as well as keeping people out of hospital in the first place and getting them out more quickly when they’re there.

“It’s absolutely vital for a patient who needs support after leaving hospital to have a care package when they are discharged.

“Without that care, it is going to put a lot of pressure on families and friends in terms of providing that care.

The Leader: Mary Wimbury. (Ceidiog PR).Mary Wimbury. (Ceidiog PR). (Image: Care Forum Wales)

“If we provide that infrastructure properly it frees up loved ones to work in other jobs and get things going in the economy, so it’s really short-sighted not to provide that infrastructure.

“Something has to happen quickly because one of the things we are seeing at the moment is a real disparity in the amounts paid to those providing those vital care packages.

“We really need a national system and a national structure. Welsh Government have been saying we’ll get one but not before 2024. We need to have it sooner than that.

“It’s about money but it’s also about partnership working as well, with different parts of the system working productively together – health boards and local authorities working with providers who are caring for vulnerable people across Wales."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “This winter we have secured more than 500 extra community beds and social care packages to help move people out of hospital to get care closer to home, and are working to deliver more.

"We are also working hard to recruit more social care staff in Wales. We recently announced an extra £70m investment to ensure all social care workers get paid at least the Real Living Wage.

“Last year we announced a £10 million package of support for social work students as part of our work to recruit more social workers. We are also working with the sector to improve recruitment and retention of social workers including through actions set out in the recently published social work workforce plan.”