Written question WQ92612
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 2 days
Question
How is the Welsh Government working to bolster the number of child health professionals in Wales?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Our National Workforce Implementation Plan sets out actions to improve retention, including improving staff wellbeing, and continued investment in education and training.
The Welsh Government will continue to invest in the workforce to support our NHS. £281.98m was invested in 2023-24 and we will maintain this level for 2024-25. This will support education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales.
A set of targeted workforce plans have been published or are in development as a result of priorities identified in A Healthier Wales: Our Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care Workforce, which was published in 2020, setting a 10-year strategic direction and vision for workforce transformation.
These plans span mental health, pharmacy, dentistry nursing and primary care and will improve the workforce capacity and capability to meet child health needs. There are specific goals within the plans to address some of the urgent workforce needs. For example in the Strategic Mental Health Workforce Plan for Health and Social Care, parent-infant and children and young people are identified as priority workforce areas.