Jeremy Miles 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.