News round-up for Wales

Wales has increased its continuing healthcare budget by £37 million. Deputy minister for social services, Gwenda Thomas, announced the additional funding last month. It comes on top of the recurrent £50 million allocated to local health boards. The money supports people who leave hospital and go home or into care. The most recent statistics show an improvement in delayed discharge in Wales. The number of patients unable to leave hospital for appropriate placement was 552 in July, a decrease of 8 per cent on the previous month and 51 per cent down from a September 2003 high of 1,116. The number of dependant older people in Wales will increase by 70 per cent between 2001-2031, and one in two women and one in three men who reach retirement age will need some form of long-term care.