Welsh NHS Confederation response to the Welsh Government's Final Budget 2024-25

Responding to the changes made in the Welsh Government’s Final Budget 2024-25, a Welsh NHS Confederation spokesperson said: 

"NHS leaders will welcome the changes to the Welsh Government’s Final Budget 2024-25. It’s clear the government has done what it can within a challenging financial backdrop to listen to our calls around NHS estates and infrastructure, and the wider determinants of health such as housing and, crucially, social care. 

“In particular, the additional £40m to the NHS for essential maintenance and preventative spending, further allocations to local authorities and the restoration of the Social Care Workforce Fund will be welcome additions to budgets. As is now widely recognised, the NHS and social care are inextricably linked, so one cannot improve if the other is struggling. 

“However, without significant investment in the NHS’s estates and a much greater focus on prevention, these short-term pots of money merely patch up ageing hospitals and fail to keep on top of the exceptional levels of demand for both urgent and emergency care and planned appointments and operations. 

“While NHS bodies continue to work hard to identify efficiencies, every further round of industrial action costs the service millions. Unless we collectively solve the bigger issues of union disputes over pay, and improve population health, there’s only so far the NHS’s efforts can go.”