Welsh Liberal Democrat vision for improved health services

10.23.42am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 5th Feb 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, is backing her party's calls for the creation of "health hubs", to provide primary health care to the community.

The hubs would function as a one-stop shop for a range of services and therapies.

Ms Williams said: "Health hubs could be the answer to the tricky problem of service provision in rural areas. They would offer pharmacy and physiotherapy services, for example, under the same roof as housing and social services or a branch of the Citizen's Advice Bureau. This is already done in other countries, and is both convenient for local people and a practical way to deliver services.

"Joined-up organisations, communicating with each other, would result in a better service for local people. I want to see more co-operation between the scores of bodies responsible for health, working together to achieve the best results for patients."