Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 9 November 2022.
Thanks very much. Can I be clear that we have been recruiting to the workforce in Wales, in terms of nurses, for several years? We've seen a 69 per cent increase in the number of nurse training places in Wales since 2016. The challenge, as you mentioned, is retention, and we understand that. These nurses have been under incredible pressure, in particular during COVID. We understand that that pressure has been unrelenting, and we also understand that they're heading into a very difficult winter. Those conversations will continue.
We have conversations regularly with the Royal College of Nursing, but I've got to be absolutely clear that there is no money left in the NHS budget. So, if we're going to find this money, we would have to cut it from the services that we give to the public in Wales, and, as you've all pointed out, there are many people waiting for operations in Wales as we speak. So, we're going to have to make some pretty tough choices here.
I know that Plaid Cymru, for example, are very keen for us to honour the commitment to pay the real living wage to care workers. Again, we'll have to find that money from somewhere else. So, let's be absolutely clear that taking political decisions is about determining what your political priorities are. It's very, very difficult when you have a limited funding pot that has been brought about and is going to get substantially worse because of the chaos the Tory Government has inflicted on us in recent weeks.