Nearly two months on from the 2026 Senedd election, a new Welsh Government is in place and putting its agenda into motion and the Senedd is moving towards full operation. Let’s have a brief look at this Senedd term is taking shape and what we can expect in the near future and what the BDA’s Policy and Campaigns team is working on.
New Ministers
The new cabinet and junior ministers are now in place including long-term Plaid Cyrmu Health Spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor as Cabinet Minister for Health and Care and Nerys Evans appointed to the new position of Deputy Minister for Preventative and Public Health. The creation of this new position is both an important signal of the Welsh Government’s commitment to tackling the causes of ill health and a welcome functional development as a minister will now be wholly dedicated to this mission. We will need to work collaboratively and closely with these ministers, as well as other colleagues such as rural affairs minister Llyr Gruffydd who will be in charge of food policy, as we seek to improve the health of the nation and increase the voice of the dietetic profession.
Health Priorities
The new ministerial team has begun setting out their priorities. In health these can essentially be thought of as two areas: firstly, continuing and quickening waiting list reduction (and addressing other immediate front line needs); and secondly, longer term investment to improve population health and the resilience of the Welsh NHS.
The most immediate priority will be to ensure waiting lists are cut further and faster, as well as addressing things that need urgent attention like some maintenance issues. As part of this the Welsh Government will aim to speed up treatment through surgical and diagnostic hubs, increase GP capacity, reduce delays in patient flow and ensure urgent maintenance work is carried out.
The Welsh Government is also keen though to start work on longer-term goals. It will seek to invest in early intervention, screening, promotion of healthier lifestyles, community care, and reforming and modernising the Welsh NHS.
Budget
In order to invest in these areas, the Welsh Government will have to pass budgets in the Senedd. It is important to remember that they have no majority to do so alone.
The first test will come on 14th July when the First Supplementary Budget will be voted on. This budget allocates additional money unspent in the 26-27 main budget or added by additional spending by the UK Government in England. Plans announced in mid-June would see £100million extra spent on cutting waiting lists with £25million for surgical and diagnostic hubs and £20million for NHS estate maintenance. It is not clear yet though how this will be passed – though there will likely have to be some sort of deal with Welsh Labour.
Looking into the next year, the Welsh Government will also have to put together and pass a full budget for the 27-28 financial year. This will be its first full budget where it will have to manage priorities across all devolved policy areas. We should know the Welsh Government’s draft plans for this in the late autumn or early winter. A deal with another party (most likely Welsh Labour) will also have to be negotiated in order for this to pass.
NHS Workforce Plan
Plaid Cymru have committed to bringing forward a long-term NHS workforce plan, which we should expect some time in the next 6-18 months. This will aim to set out a path for the NHS workforce, areas for growth over the next10 years and how this will be achieved through training, recruitment and retention. We are aiming to see strong recognition of the current and potentially expanded future role of dietitians within this.
Food Strategy
Also coming in the next year or so will be a National Food Strategy, which will aim to take strategic look at food production, security, procurement and consumption. The model for this is the 2022 Henry Dimbelby report, which recommended a number of provisions for improving dietary public health. Plaid Cymru’s emphasis on this topic has leant towards supporting agriculture and local food industries, but we are confident if we make the case, nutrition will also play a strong role.
Senedd and Health Committee
Meanwhile, the Senedd has finalised its committees and is starting to resume what looks like normal business, as Members begin to find their policy interests and issues they wish to champion over the next four years.
Labour’s Jane Bryant, a former Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary and briefly Minister for Mental Health and Early Years, will chair the new Health and Social Care Committee, which will also feature representatives from Plaid Cymru, Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives. The Committee includes several members with health backgrounds including Sara Crowley who has worked in diabetes care. In their first few meetings the Committee will determine the topics of its first enquiries.
Our Activities and Future Events
The BDA’s policy and campaigns team has already begun the task of reaching out and engaging with the new Welsh Government and Senedd. We have written to the new ministerial health team and hope to meet with them in the near future to discuss shared priorities.
I also attended a Senedd ‘Farchnad’ (market place) event with the Allied Health Professionals Federation Cymru (AHPFC) where we spoke to 20 Members of the Senedd.
AHPFC is planning an additional event in the Senedd in late September where we plan to introduce MSs to each of the allied health professions by taking them one-by-one through a hypothetical demonstration of how each would diagnose and/or treat a patient. We also plan to engage directly the new Health Committee, Welsh Government ministers and explore the establishment of a Cross Party Group on AHPs.
We’ll also be planning our own BDA ‘Farchnad’ stall and reaching out to backbench and opposition Senedd members over dietitians’ priorities for Wales.
