Briefing for debate on the Welsh Government’s 2025-26 spending priorities
Key points
Along with the rest of the public sector, the health and care system is facing multiple challenges. Heightened pressures are a result of inflation, the elective care backlog, recruitment and retention of the health and care workforce, the rising cost-of-living and high demand on NHS and social care services, alongside high public expectations.
The NHS requires clear and more focused priorities, underpinned by a long-term vision for the system. While the long-term aim is to shift money towards preventative and community-based services, demand on frontline services remains extremely high.
NHS leaders recommend the following areas are prioritised:
Capital: Develop a ten-year investment plan for service change to reshape NHS estates and infrastructure and look at how fiscal rules might be amended to allow recycling of capital. Invest in digital as a key driver to deliver a reformed and transformed NHS.
Workforce: Support the development of an overarching long-term workforce plan and sustainably increase investment in the NHS workforce.
Social care: Provide local authorities with ring-fenced allocations for social care, to enable parity of pay and esteem with the NHS workforce.
Prevention and early intervention: Shift funding to preventative activities that improve population health outcomes.
Inequalities: Publish a delivery plan outlining action to be taken across all government departments to tackle inequalities.
NHS and the economy: Consider health as part of wider budget setting and its contribution to the economy, both nationally and locally.
Introduce longer-term funding cycles to ensure financial certainty: The UK and Welsh Governments must move away from short-term thinking to give sectors some long-term financial certainty.
