Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:05 pm on 28 September 2022.
Now, it appears that what those who have signed the petition are saying is that they want the right number of nurses and healthcare staff in the system to meet the care needs of the people of Wales, and that's my aspiration too. But a legislative pledge that cannot be delivered won't secure that, and I can't commit the Welsh Government to that approach. Rather, the steps that will help to ensure that are planning and workforce modelling in an effective way, effective strategies for recruitment and retention of staff, including programmes that are standardised to provide clinical oversight and tutoring to our nursing staff, and also international recruitment. Health Education and Improvement Wales is leading on the development of a sustainable national workforce development plan for nursing, and I hope that this work will lead to solutions and a focus to tackle the fundamental challenges in terms of the workforce. Thank you.