Staff do a wonderful job despite pressures
Our NHS is currently facing major recruitment and retention problems. According to latest figures there are more than 40,000 unfilled nursing posts in England and Wales combined.
This has been blamed on the increasing demands of the job not reflecting the level of pay.
It led to scores of nurses descending on Parliament Square last week to call on the UK Government to scrap a 1% pay cap for public sector workers.
But it’s not just nursing that’s experiencing a staffing shortfall at the moment.
General practices across Wales have been forced to close or hand back control to their health boards because not enough primary care doctors are available.
Some are nearing retirement and want to call it a day, while others are going part-time to have a better work-life balance.
One of the ways Wales can combat this recruitment issue in the long-term is to ensure more young people have aspirations of becoming doctors and nurses.
But according to the Assembly’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, the number of students living in Wales applying to study medicine is “low and declining”.
It found that the number of applicants from Welsh domiciled students is still considerably lower than other parts of the UK.
While the Welsh Government, health boards and other organisations are striving to boost numbers, Wales is competing against a worldwide market for the top medics.
So in this edition of Health Check Wales we celebrate the invaluable contribution of staff members in the NHS and private sector who work tirelessly to provide the highest quality of care.
We have asked employees from a variety of healthcare fields to write personal accounts of their day-to-day working lives.
And as you’ll see, many of them describe their jobs as incredibly rewarding, fulfilling and in some cases rather exciting.
Paramedic Manon Ludlam says her role with the Welsh Ambulance service can take her from mountainside to maternity unit within a matter of hours.
And heart surgeon Professor Farah Bhatti enthusiastically describes her team as performing a “beautifully choreographed ballet” on the operating table.
As part of the supplement we’ve also asked patients to relive some of their horrifying injuries and illnesses and how our healthcare service has helped them.
Former headteacher Edryd Jones lost his arm in a freak accident with a saw, but thanks to the incredible work of ambulance staff and surgeons he was able to regain feeling and movement in the limb.
Enjoy reading this autumn edition of Health Check Wales and we hope it helps you appreciate what matters most in our healthcare system – the staff and patients.