On Wednesday the 25th of June 2025, the topic of adopting a national workforce strategy for Allied Health Professionals in Wales was debated in the Welsh Senedd. The motion was forwarded by Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and called on the Welsh Government to commit to three actions; to adopt a national workforce strategy for AHPs, increase the number of student placements for AHPs, and increase routes to qualifications in Wales to meet growing demand.
The campaign to secure a debate came as a result of an effort from the Allied Health Professional Framework Cymru of which the College is a member. The AHPF met with ap Gwynfor last year and proposed the idea of a debate on the topic in the Senedd to which he agreed. It comes in light of AHPF Cymru publishing its first manifesto in April 2025, where the first call was for a national workforce strategy for AHPs.
A link to the manifesto in both English and Welsh can be found here.
The debate was a positive one, with Members of the Senedd from a number of parties expressing their support for the motion. Labour MS for Cardiff Central Jenny Rathbone said that she was unaware AHPs made up 25% of the workforce in Wales as they don’t get 25% of the attention. They agreed that they are professions that are more than ‘just an addition’ to the health service, and a national workforce strategy was vital.
Paramedics got mentioned directly twice in the debate by Mabon ap Gwynfor and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Miles. The Health and Social Care Secretary paid tribute to the work paramedics do to keep people out of hospital by being able to refer patients to community falls units or therapy response teams directly, whilst ap Gwynfor praised paramedics for the “immense job” they do in his closing statement.
The motion passed unanimously, with 47 total votes cast. 31 MSs (across the Welsh Labour Party, Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, and Independents) voted in favour, there were 16 abstentions, and 0 against.
MSs agreed that with preventative care being the future in Wales, the professions have to be embedded in policy and leadership at every level from health boards to government. Mabon ap Gwynfor noted at the end of his opening statement that the Welsh Government “can’t not afford to invest in prevention, and we cannot deliver prevention without AHPs”.
A link to watch the debate in full can be found here: Senedd.tv - Plenary - 25/06/2025. To go straight to the debate, press play on the video, scroll down on the sidebar and click on “Member Debate Under Standing Order 11.21 (iv) – Allied health professionals”.