5. What action is the Welsh Government taking to address recruitment challenges in the Welsh NHS? OAQ52575

We continue to work with health boards and, from October of course, Health Education and Improvement Wales on recruitment challenges with short, medium and long-term action. This includes our successful 'Train. Work. Live.' campaign, increasing medical school places and working to ensure that more Welsh students go on to study to become healthcare professionals. 

Thank you for that answer, health Secretary, but one thing you didn't mention was the quality of accommodation for NHS staff, which is very often provided by health boards. The feedback I've received from north Wales staff in recent months has been that the quality of accommodation is absolutely appalling and does discourage people from coming to try working in that part of the country. So, I was wondering what action you are going to take, Cabinet Secretary, to ensure that there are decent standards of accommodation provided for NHS staff where health boards are responsible for accommodation. We have the Welsh housing quality standard, which applies to registered social landlords in Wales, but it doesn't seem to apply as far as health boards are concerned in terms of the quality of their accommodation. What work will you do to make sure that we raise our game in this regard?

Well, in north Wales, I'm aware of ongoing conversations about having to improve the quality of their accommodation and whether or not the health service itself needs to provide it. Or there could be a partnership, for example, with registered social landlords, housing associations to help provide investment into a facility and better and more proactive management of it. So, it is an issue that I am very well aware of and I'm looking for further action. And, of course, we recognise that, unlike some parts of the UK, we continue to provide free accommodation for doctors in the foundation 1 phase as well. So, I recognise the challenges. Improving the offer should mean that we're an even more attractive place for people to come and commit their career. 

Cabinet Secretary, I welcome the fact that the numbers of nurses, midwives and health visitors are at a record high here in Wales, and I understand that the extension of the ‘Train. Work. Live.’ campaign to registered nurses has generated a significant amount of interest from qualified nurses considering a career in Wales, and that this has led to some nurses taking up a post alongside those who have been recruited directly by NHS organisations. What's the Welsh Government doing to track the success stories of ‘Train. Work. Live.’ to learn more about what led them to choose a career in Wales, to build on this success?

I'm happy that you've highlighted the nurse recruitment part of ‘Train. Work. Live.’ and that it isn't just a campaign for GP or specialist doctor recruitment. Actually, the feedback we've already had from people who have come in to Wales as a result of ‘Train. Work. Live.’—a number of whom I met at the Royal College of Nursing congress in Belfast—is that the campaign is visible and high-profile in the nursing world, and we'll be definitely using real stories of nurses who have made choices to come to Wales on the back of that campaign. You can see some of the ongoing success in our approach, because there are UK-wide challenges on a range recruitment issues, but the nurse vacancy rate in NHS Wales is approximately 5 per cent. In England, it's 11.8 per cent. So, we're in a better position, but the challenge is to make sure that we don't lose sight of where we are, and that we continue to improve. I actually think that when you talk to nurses themselves, they'll tell you what other nurses themselves think of their journey, to make sure that's a story they can believe in. So, we will definitely take up the point that you raise in the continuation of our campaign. 

Cabinet Secretary, I also welcome the ‘Train. Work. Live.’ scheme, but also the bursary, and I welcome very much the fact that the bursary is still being kept here in Wales while the Tories in England have abolished it. That is critical to seeing more Welsh citizens coming into the profession. And it's not just nursing, of course; it's other allied health professions as well. Can you reassure me that that bursary will continue, and can you expand upon it? Because as you have highlighted, we need more nurses and more other health professionals in our hospitals, in our services, to ensure that we can deliver those services, so we don't close beds. 

I recognise the point you make about the bursary, so I've made annual choices to roll forward the bursary. The consultation has now ended. We've had, I think, over 40 different organisations and a number individuals who have responded. So, I'll get a summary of the consultation and I'll then have some decisions to make over the autumn about a longer term arrangement so we don't need to make an annual choice, but I'm determined that we continue to invest in supporting nurses to come and study and to give them the opportunity and expectation to work in NHS Wales afterwards.

We've seen the impact of removing the bursary in England, not just the numbers that are coming off the register, but in particular in specialist areas as well. Learning disability nurses are a good example. It's an area that is often not talked about, but the reality is that learning disability nurses tend to be mature students, more so than other parts of the nursing family, and in England, with the removal of the bursary, there's been a catastrophic fall in the number of people undertaking learning disability nursing qualifications. I know that some providers have closed their courses. Now, that's a problem for England in the here and now, but it's actually a risk for us as well because as we maintain our numbers, there's every chance that learning disability nurses in Wales will be pursued by other parts of our healthcare system. So, you can see the risks, you can see the damage that's being done, and I would urge the Government for England to think again about the course it's taking to support nurses and other healthcare professionals to reintroduce a bursary, and I hope that you and other Members in the Chamber will support the decision I eventually reach on how to continue to support nurses and other therapists and healthcare professionals to study here in Wales.