Health and Social Care Committee

Consultation on terms of reference for inquiry into residential care for older people

RC11 ToR – Welsh Language Board

INQUIRY INTO RESIDENTIAL CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE – CONSULTATION ON TERMS OF REFERENCE

Thank you for your invitation to comment on the Health and Social Care Committee’s terms of reference for the above inquiry.

Language is a crucial element in ensuring that older people in Wales receive excellent care. Many of the Welsh Government’s strategic documents refer to the importance of providing bilingual services for older people, and those strategic aims, together with the issue of how they translate into users’ experience, should be borne in mind throughout the inquiry.

Despite the fact that language is implicit in many of the points in the terms of reference, ensuring that there is a reference to the Welsh language would ensure that it is not overlooked. We would therefore recommend that you rephrase the third bullet point to state:

The quality of residential care services and the experiences of service users and their families; the effectiveness of services at meeting the diversity of need amongst older people, including Welsh language needs; and the management of care home closures.

Thank you, once again, for the opportunity to comment, and we look forward to having the opportunity to provide more detailed evidence in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Heledd Thomas

Development Officer, Health, Care and Third Sector Unit