Vaughan Gething, Minister for Health and Social Services
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
For the 6th consecutive year funding to support health professional education and training in Wales will increase. £127.8 million will be invested in 2020/21, this equates to a 13% increase from 19/20 which is an extra £15 million for education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales. This is a record level of funding and will support the highest ever number of training opportunities in Wales.
A well trained NHS workforce with the right skills is essential to providing a sustainable high quality care to people across Wales and improving standards in our health service. Despite the challenges we today face, we have continued to invest in the education and training of healthcare professionals in Wales. This year will be no exception.
Over the past 5 years training places for nurses have increased by 54.8% and midwives have increased by 71.2%. The overall NHS Wales workforce has grown by 10.4% over the last 5 years.
The Welsh Government is committed to providing the NHS the workforce it needs to meet ever increasing demand. We are achieving this through increase training places, encouraging young people to take up health professions and recruiting outside Wales, supported by our successful Train, Work, Live campaign.
I am very pleased to increase training places once again for nurses, midwives and many other health professions that are the backbone of our health service. This record level of funding will support the highest ever number of training opportunities for health professionals in Wales.
This expansion will help us address shortages in priority areas and meet workforce needs of the future, as set out in 'A Healthier Wales'.”
From April 2020, Wales will be training more nurses, midwives, radiographers, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and dieticians than ever before.
The £16.4 million extra funding also includes £1.4 million for 47 additional Medical Postgraduate training places.
Earlier this month I also announced that the target for GP training places in Wales had once again been exceeded. The quota for GP training places increased from 136 to 160 this year and 186 places have been filled.
All these additional training places will increase the capacity of the workforce to help the NHS respond to the challenges facing it now and in the future.