Welsh Food Alliance / Cynghrair Bwyd Cymru

In Wales we have strategy, but where is Food Policy and do we need a Food and Health Policy Council to make it effective?

The Welsh Food Alliance, the Open University in Wales, the Welsh Board of Community Health Councils, the Practitioner Network on Ageing, and Public Health Alliance Cymru are co-sponsoring the first series of four workshops on June 14th and 21st July 2006 to support the contribution of patients, service users and carers.
 
The overall aim of these workshops is to refresh thinking around delivering improved public services, within a dispersed model of care. Each workshop will consider what effective process will be available to older vulnerable people to communicate their views and concerns about the new public service.
 

25th September 2006, 2 – 5.30 pm
Open University, 24 Cathedral Road, Cardiff

Workshops 5 and 6 – Public members on audit, inspection and regulatory bodies

Following ‘Beyond Boundaries – Citizen-Centred Local Services for Wales’ - the Beecham Review, three detailed government public consultations have been issued
·     ‘Building Better Customer Service: Core Principles for Public Services’

Medicines and Older People
Extract of evidence presented by the Welsh Food Alliance January 2006

Food
In our view this aspect of the NSF for Older People has a food dimension and this could be made explicit in sections 4. - 7. For example:
 
Section 4. An extra bullet point should (a) capture the need for medical doctors to be advised to check patients' diets/eating arrangements before prescribing powerful drugs, and
 

Friday 18th March 2005, 10am ‚ 1pm Wales Centre for Health, Cardiff

Nutrition is not just about health promotion, but is a serious issue of utmost importance. The nutritional status of older people is crucial to their independence, physical and mental well being and their ability to recover from ill health.

We have seen a steady increase in the older population with the older population itself growing older, who will continue to live primarily in the community and, in the earlier years of retirement, a fair proportion will be relatively self-sufficient. If they are to remain within the community they will come to rely increasingly on outside assistance, with protocols for investment in health gain related to nutrition.

Continuation of the WFA ‘Nutrition for the over 65s in Wales – Food Inquiry’ September 2005

Aims: an updating and discussion opportunity for progressing nutrition strategy inWales for older people.

Objectives: to ensure improved nutrition for older people have a higher profile; at alocal level sharing current practice on targetting and action that responds to thenutrition needs of older people; for participants to receive an update on relevantissues and the involvement of older people; contributing to the Welsh AssemblyOlder Peoples National Service Framework consultation.