MS, Cabinet Secretary for
Health and Social Care: I have today published an update of
progress towards achieving the aims set out in Mwy na Geiriau/More than
just words, which is our plan to increase the use
of Welsh in health and social care.
Language is fundamental to the delivery of safe, equitable and
person-centred care. As one of the largest employers in Wales,
there is a huge opportunity for the health and social care
sectors to be exemplars in providing Welsh-language services and
to directly contribute to our ambition of increasing the use and
number of Welsh speakers by 2050.
While much has been achieved since the first Mwy na
Geiriau/More than just words plan was published over a
decade ago, the actions we set out in the 2022-27 plan – and
the 2023-24
and 2024-25 progress
reports – highlight the challenges which remain.
The role of leadership at all levels is paramount if we are
to make Welsh an everyday part of health and social care.
Services are increasingly delivering the Active Offer and
providing Welsh language support without someone needing to
ask. We must continue to build on this by ensuring
people working in health and social care understand the impact
of delivering services in Welsh and the difference it makes
to people accessing services.
The annual reports for 2023-24 and 2024-25 highlight significant
developments in terms of increasing the Welsh language skills of
the workforce. Completion of the mandatory Welsh language
awareness course for all NHS Wales staff is at its highest level,
and uptake of the Croeso Course, which was developed by
the National Centre for Learning Welsh as part of the Learn Welsh
Scheme for Health and Social Care, is also increasing.
We have also increased the opportunities for students in Wales to
undertake part or all of their health and social care studies
through the medium of Welsh. This includes courses at the new
North Wales Medical School and at Wrexham University – where
speech and language therapy students can complete their training
and carry out clinical placements through the medium of
Welsh. Data from Health Education and Improvement Wales and
Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol shows 63 undergraduate courses in
2024-25 offered students the opportunity to study at least a
third of their course through the medium of Welsh.
Ensuring all social care courses have Welsh language action plans
in place is being delivered by Social Care Wales, and we have
extended the Doctoriaid Yfory scheme to more careers,
including dentistry.
Workforce planning is a critical part of the plan – partners are
identifying the opportunities to improve the skills of people who
speak Welsh but who lack the confidence to use the
language.
The Welsh Language Standards for health and social care and
Mwy na Geiriau go hand in hand: the new collaboration
between Welsh Government and the Welsh Language Commissioner to
deliver Standard 110, and increase the use of Welsh across
clinical settings will be important as we move into the final two
years of the plan. To deliver Standard 110, over the next six
months, I want to see a focus on staff in NHS Wales and social
care recording their Welsh language skills so organisations can
make informed decisions about whether they have sufficient Welsh
language skills and then take relevant steps to improve or
increase the Welsh language skills of their workforce.
I want to thank everyone who is helping to make our vision for
bilingual health and social care services a reality. Together, we
are building a health and care system that is not only bilingual,
but truly person-centred.
