Commenting on a series of Welsh Conservative Written Questions that reveal that the Labour Welsh Government spent close to £240 million on agency staff to fill vacant Welsh NHS shifts in 2023 and have admitted that they are behind on the delivery of their ‘workforce implementation plan’, Russell George MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister said:
“Labour ministers shouldn’t be wasting hundreds of millions on agency staff; we should be investing that money in the financially sustainable future of our Welsh NHS.
“The Labour Welsh Government have admitted that they are behind on delivering more training places, nowhere near enough to fill vacancies and as a result we are saddling our health service with eyewatering agency costs.
“The Welsh Conservatives have a plan to substantially boost Wales healthcare workforce numbers by fully resourcing our Welsh NHS, providing a tuition fee refund for healthcare workers that stay in Wales and at least matching the review body’s recommendation for doctors’ pay.”
