Winter pledge to support vulnerable people by Welsh government
(about 9 hours later)
How hospitals aim to cope with winter pressures is due to be debated by assembly members.
Vulnerable people and essential services will be protected this winter, the Welsh government has pledged.
Health Minister Mark Drakeford says health boards are better placed this year to deal with any surge in demand.
Local Government Minister Lesley Griffiths also urged people to be "good neighbours" when temperatures drop.
It follows last winter when hospitals cancelled hundreds of operations due to the numbers wanting emergency treatment.
It comes as assembly members prepare to debate how hospitals aim to cope with winter pressures.
Plans by the Welsh government and the NHS are expected to be outlined to AMs.
Health Minister Mark Drakeford has said that health boards are better placed this year to deal with any surge in demand after last year's problems.
But opposition parties want all health boards to publish their winter plans.
Hospitals cancelled hundreds of operations due to increased numbers of people turning up at A&E departments, especially elderly patients.
Meanwhile, Age Cymru is urging older people to look after themselves "both physically and mentally".
Mr Drakeford has said detailed plans have been developed to put the NHS on a stronger footing to cope this winter, although he admitted that difficult days lie ahead.
Last winter many hospitals struggled to cope with the increase in demand for services - especially the sheer volume of very ill and elderly patients turning up at A&E departments.
But opposition parties want him to publish each health board's winter plan.
Hundreds of operations were postponed and waiting times grew.
Hywel Dda health board serving mid and west Wales was recently criticised for suggesting non-urgent orthopaedic operations could be halted for several months in order to prioritise urgent care.
The health minister has said detailed plans have been developed to put the NHS on a stronger footing to cope this winter, although he admitted that difficult days lie ahead.
Ahead of her colleague's statement in the Senedd, Ms Griffiths said the Welsh government had a number of schemes in place to help those who would be most at risk from the cold weather.
Opposition parties want Mr Drakeford to publish each health board's winter plan.
Among the projects designed to help people this winter are:
Hywel Dda health board was recently criticised for suggesting non urgent orthopaedic operations could be halted for several months in order to prioritise urgent care.
"Whilst weather prediction is not an exact science, earlier warning allows us to be better equipped and organised," said Ms Griffiths.
Paul Hinge is a Lib Dem county councillor in Ceredigion, and chair of the Ceredigion locality of Hywel Dda Community Health Council.
"Our priorities are to support the most vulnerable, and safeguard our economy and infrastructure.
He told BBC Radio Wales that he viewed the coming winter for the NHS "with great trepidation".
"Everyone needs to be good neighbours at all times. Communities can do a lot to help themselves. It is important people come together to help each other. It is a message we need to keep pressing."
"We are seeing diminishing resources both on the health side and social services side, and being asked to do more and more with it," he said.
Meanwhile Age Cymru said there are many things that older people can do to help themselves during the darker colder months.
"One of the things older people can do is make sure that they look after themselves physically and mentally because it can be a very isolating time of year," said Nicola Russell-Brooks, the deputy chief executive officer of Age Cymru in Swansea Bay.
On a practical level she said anyone with an electric blanket should have it checked.
Cold and flu remedies should be kept in the house, so that if anyone is unwell they do not have to go out, she added.
"Also, make sure that prescription drugs are up to date and ask to see whether your chemist will deliver.
"If you are over 65 then please have the flu jab - or if you are a carer - because we saw a huge peak last year, around Christmas, of flu and that can be serious for older people particularly if they've got another condition," she added.
