Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
I recently visited India, to undertake a series of engagements to reaffirm and strengthen Wales’ healthcare links with the country; to explore trade and investment opportunities and to celebrate St David’s Day with our key international partners.
As part of my programme, I attended a St David’s Day reception in Mumbai where I formally closed the year of Wales in India 2024. This was an intensive calendar of events in India and Wales, which included many investment events and highlighted the deep-rooted heritage, educational, artistic, sporting and economic ties between our two countries.
During my visit, I held discussions across multiple sectors, including healthcare, investment and global responsibility. I also held a roundtable with med-tech companies interested in investing in or trading with Wales.
Another focus of the visit was progressive policies on LGBTQ+ rights. While in Mumbai, I held a roundtable with LGBTQ+ community leaders, including Pride organisers, diplomats, equal marriage activists, cultural leaders and India’s first openly gay prince, His Highness Manvendra Singh Gohil.
I visited the state of Kerala to reaffirm our Memorandum of Understanding with the Chief Minister of Kerala and the Minister for Health, Woman and Child Development, strengthening relations between Wales and the Government of Kerala. More than 300 nurses and doctors have already taken up positions in the NHS Wales from Kerala since the agreement was signed in March 2024. We agreed a further 200 healthcare professionals will be recruited to join the NHS in Wales under this agreement.
The NHS in Wales benefits from the skills and talent of the healthcare professionals from Kerala, who are an important addition to Wales and UK-trained healthcare professionals. There are now more staff working in the NHS in Wales than at any point in its history – it directly employs almost 97,000 full-time equivalent staff, and the Welsh Government is committed to continue investing in the current workforce and in training the NHS workforce of the future.
During my visit to Kerala, I had the pleasure of meeting staff who will soon be joining the NHS in Wales. I also had positive and productive discussions with Norka Roots, the Kerala Government agency, which supports our ethical international recruitment.