Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2008
Key strands in developing future services in geriatric medicine in Wales have been the 2000 ‘Review of Health and Social Care in Wales’ by Sir Derek Wanless, the Welsh Assembly Government document ‘Designed for Life’ of May 2005, and the National Service Framework (NSF) For Older People in Wales (published in March 2006). The common theme in these documents is for older people's health and social care issues to be managed nearer to their home, in the community. At present, the development of Intermediate Care Services has been ‘hit and miss’ – fragmented, unevenly developed and delivered with poor integration into mainstream services. The Academy of the Royal College's Medical Aspect of Intermediate Care identifies the lack of specialist medical input as being one of the reasons for the failure of development of Intermediate Care Services. It recommended that geriatricians should be encouraged to undertake well-defined roles in community work in planning and delivery of Intermediate Care Services.