Local health care will be determined by new board

From Tuesday, 22 health boards have been set up across Wales, and the five old regional health authorities have been abolished.

The aim of the new system is to bring decisions about health closer to the community - in Gwynedd, 26 local people will sit on the new health board.

Their work will be to match services with the needs of local patients.

The move has been warmly welcomed by the new members who will represent the interests of health sectors in the county.

Previously a member of the Local Health Group, Bangor GP Dr Lyndon Miles is now the chair of the Gwynedd board.

The new scheme will give stronger central guidance with increased local determination Dr Lyndon Miles, chair of Gwynedd Health Board

From Tuesday, he will spend half his time treating patients and half chairing the new board.

He says there were huge benefits to the fact the new 22 boards will share their boundaries closely with Wales's county councils.

"This is particularly true with the assembly's Wellbeing agenda which aims to stop illness by promoting healthy lifestyles - an agenda largely driven by the local authority," he said.

In Gwynedd, Dr Miles foresees there will be a lot of work involving the wellbeing agenda and other health care issues particular to the county, which has, for example, a high rate of a stomach cancer.

"The new scheme will give stronger central guidance with increased local determination," he added.

Experience

Another new member, Sion Llywelyn, is a pharmacist in his native town of Bala.

Born and bred in the area, he has already identified gaps in local healthcare.

He says the town needs an optician and a dentist.

Pharmacist Sion Llywelyn welcomes the change

"It is a general concern that there aren't enough dentists and opticians in the area and pharmacists are also scarce in Gwynedd," he said.

"I am in close contact with the public every day through my job so I hope to feed that information through to the board.

"By drawing on all the experience of local people from all the professions I hope we can all work together," he added.

"Health workers work very hard and, if we can all work together in the same direction, we will see better results," he added.