Delivering more care closer to home
We are asking people across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan to share their views as we look at how health and care services need to change for the future.
The way people need healthcare is changing. More people are living with long-term conditions, many patients have increasingly complex needs, and demand for healthcare continues to grow. At the same time, our services face significant workforce and financial pressures.
We want to help people stay well for longer and, when they do need care, make sure they can access the right care, in the right place and at the right time.
For many people, this could mean receiving more care closer to home, through community services or, where it is safe and appropriate, in their own home. Hospitals will continue to play a vital role, particularly for people who are seriously ill or need urgent, acute or specialist care.
Developing a more integrated model of care
Our Clinical Services Plan provides a framework for transforming care. It brings our work together around three priorities:
- Creating capacity for sustainable change: making the best use of our time, space and resources.
- Changing demand for healthcare: working with communities and partners to prevent ill health, reduce inequalities and help people stay well for longer.
- Designing to deliver: making sure our services, workforce, technology and buildings support safe, sustainable and high-quality care
Together, these priorities support a more integrated model of care, with hospital, community and primary care services working more closely together around the needs of patients. Providing more care closer to home, where it is safe and appropriate, is an important part of this approach.
This isn’t simply about moving existing services out of hospital. It is about looking at the whole journey a person takes through our services and considering how we can prevent ill health, provide help earlier, make care easier to access and support people to remain independent.
We are already developing services that support this approach, including same-day care, earlier specialist support for people living with frailty, Virtual Smart Care in people’s homes, more personalised supportive and end-of-life care, and better coordinated discharge planning.
As this model develops, where and how some services are provided may also change. This could mean greater use of community and neighbourhood services, more use of digital technology, different ways for healthcare teams to work together, and changes to how we use our hospitals and other buildings.
The principle behind this is simple: care should be organised around the needs of people, rather than around buildings or organisational boundaries.
Listening to our communities
We know that changes to healthcare services matter to the people who use them.
More than 3,500 responses were received during engagement on our Clinical Services Plan between August and December 2025. Feedback supported better coordinated care closer to home, where clinically appropriate, alongside stronger community services and accessible alternatives to hospital. We now want to continue that conversation.
A 12-week period of targeted public engagement will give people an opportunity to share their views and help us understand what possible changes could mean for patients, families and communities.
Have your say
We are asking people to complete our engagement survey and tell us what matters most to them.
In particular, we want to hear people’s views about:
- confidence in community-based services
- the support people receive after leaving hospital
- the experiences and concerns of unpaid carers
- the needs of older people, people living with frailty and people living alone
- what we should monitor to make sure changes are being introduced safely and are delivering the right outcomes.
The survey will close on Wednesday 3 February 2027.
If you would prefer a paper copy of the questions, or would like to talk to us about your views, please email CAV.engagement.cav@wales.nhs.uk.
What happens next?
We will continue to listen as our plans develop and will provide updates about what we have heard and how feedback is influencing our proposals and decisions.
Where individual proposals require formal engagement or consultation, those processes will still take place. This engagement does not replace any statutory engagement or consultation that may be needed in the future.
Our ambition is to create a more joined-up health and care system that helps people stay well, provides more care closer to home where appropriate, and ensures our hospitals have the capacity and expertise to care for those who need them most.