HSS. Health and Social Services
HSS1. Prevention is better than Cure
HSS2. Willingness and ability to care for the sick and disabled are essential features of a compassionate society. Proper health care for all, and the responsible use of resources, both require the continued provision of well-funded health services.
HSS3. However, health services are not in themselves a major determinant of the public health. Increased investment in health services alone will generate little improvement in the conventional indicators of health and disease. Furthermore, expansion of health services on the basis of indiscriminate economic growth will inevitably be counterproductive, since such growth itself damages health at the individual, social and ecological levels.
HSS4. Health services should put as much, if not more, emphasis on prevention and health promotion, as on treatments to cure diseases. Appropriate health and diet education should be provided at all levels of the education system.
HSS5. Greens in the National Assembly will:
Decentralise health care facilities to a community level where ever possible
Increase provision for midwifery and obstetrics so that home delivery is a real alternative for child birth
Promote the use of re-useable nappies by all hospitals
Promote mothers breast feeding their babies and the appropriateness of this in any public place
Increase provision for alternative holistic therapies, such as homeopathy, massage and psychotherapy, within the NHS in Wales
Promote regular health checks for the whole of the population that would include tailored advice on diet, exercise, stress reduction and other aspects of physical and mental health.
Advocate the introduction of complementary currencies that can be used as a means of financing care of the elderly
HSS6. Additionally Greens want to:
Increase financial provision for the National Health Service (NHS)
Reduce the working hours of NHS staff
Re-introduce free eye tests and dental treatment for all and abolish prescription charges
Reject forms of involuntary mass medication such as the fluoridation of drinking water
Include provision for adequate exercise as part of the daily routine in schools and the workplace
Provide free nursing and social care for the elderly
