14.05.12
Welsh language proposals could limit recruitment
Plans to increase Welsh services in health and social care inWalescould have a negative impact to the ongoing recruitment drive for more doctors, the BMA has said.
The proposed framework – More than Words – suggests patients should be able to receive services in their own language as a “core component of care, not an optional extra”.
Language skills would be streamlined into workforce planning processes and would increase the capability of the workforce to provide Welsh language services.
The framework states: “We want to make sure people working in health and social services recognise that receiving care through the medium of Welsh is essential for many people.
“We want the service to accept that responsibility and take a proactive approach to responding to people’s need for care in their own language.”
But BMA Wales responded to the consultation, suggesting that Welsh language provision should not be a one-size-fits-all policy and that investment in waiting times and filling staff vacancies would be better placed to deliver best care.
“Today, the NHS is at breaking point; everyday we hear the same warnings. Imposing duties to offer NHS services in Welsh in a sector which in some areas is struggling to offer any service at all to its population is quite another.
“The time, and financial situation, is not right for imposing language duties on NHS organisations aiming to deliver world-class healthcare, but which in reality are many light-years away from that.”
Consultation has now ended, and the Welsh Government will respond in due course.
To view the proposals, visit: http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dhss/consultation/120208execsummaryen.pdf
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