Carmarthenshire County Council's ten year plan for the Care of the Elderly has been changed to reflect current trends around the United Kingdom where there is a major reliance on keeping elderly people more fit and independant and in their own homes for as long as possible

This is a laudable aspiration and in order to maintain people in their homes a number of Services are being made available including "Home Care", Sheltered Accommodation", "Night Care" and "Extra Care" in fact there are over 10 different Care Services being developed and piloted now.

A number of these services have not been rolled out accross the County at present so "volume testing" and costings of these services still has to be realised and finalised.

One of the more innovative services is "Extra Care" where whole complexes are under construction (Plas Y Mor in Burry Port is already online (built 2003) and Annedd in Llanybydder is currently being built).

Run by a Private Company and made up of 38 Flats, llift, lounge, dining room, laundry, guest facilities, garden, conservatory, community centre, cafe, shop, hairdressing salon and library.Services include Extra Care scheme with on-site care staff (24 hours / 7 days), non-resident management staff (24 hours) and community alarm service.

Investment has been cut from Residential Care Homes (a planned reduction of at least 175 beds) to fund further new "Extra Care" builds which are planned but not confirmed.

Sadly although excellent facilities, they do not cater for people who need "Dependant Care" , for people who rely entirely on others for food, drinks, toiletting, laundry etc.