Written question WQ90064

It is for health boards to plan their workforce according to population need, as you know I have the role to set the strategic direction for health services and hold the Welsh NHS to account. However, it remains the responsibility of health boards to plan how services will be delivered ‘on the ground’, including recruitment and workforce planning, and they must regularly review these services to ensure they meet the needs of their resident population.

The quality statement for Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health published on 12 October 2023 sets out our overarching aim to improve and protect the musculoskeletal health of the population throughout the life course, reduce the number of people developing musculoskeletal conditions and improve the health and wellbeing of people with musculoskeletal conditions. It describes the need for a transformed, multi-professional, whole system workforce to better meet future needs of people with MSK conditions (including rheumatology) and that the workforce should be supported, developed, and trained to meet current and future needs, address recruitment and retention challenges and be sustainable and equitably distributed.

Health boards and NHS trusts will be supported to deliver musculoskeletal service improvements by the NHS Executive’s new clinical network arrangements. This will be discharged through the MSK strategic clinical network, in collaboration with other networks and programmes, such as orthopaedics, persistent pain and bone health. The MSK strategic clinical network will be developing a workforce strategy for MSK conditions to meet current and future (predicted) needs.