An extra £16.4m for a 14.5% increase in training places for nursing and midwifery has been announced in Wales.
Welsh health minister, Vaughan Gething, has also announced a 17.7% increase for other health professions.
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Over the past five years training places for nurses and midwives have increased by 55.9% and it is the sixth consecutive year the Welsh Government has increased funding for health professional education and training. The overall NHS Wales workforce has grown by 10.4% over the last five years.
Mr Gething said: ‘The Welsh Government is committed to providing the NHS the workforce it needs to meet ever increasing demand. We are achieving this through increased training places, encouraging young people to take up health professions and recruiting outside Wales, supported by our successful Train, Work, Live campaign.
‘I am very pleased to increase training places once again for nurses, midwives and many other health professions that are the backbone of our health service. This record level of funding will support the highest ever number of training opportunities for health professionals in Wales.
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‘This expansion will help us address shortages in priority areas and meet workforce needs of the future, as set out in A Healthier Wales.’
From April 2020, Wales will be training more nurses, midwives, radiographers, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and dieticians than ever before.
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The £16.4m extra funding also includes £1.4m for 47 additional medical postgraduate training places.
| Places | From | To | % change |
| Adult nursing | 1,216 | 1,400 | 15.13% |
| Mental health nursing | 324 | 356 | 9.88% |
| Midwifery | 134 | 161 | 20.15% |
Table: Increase in training places by profession.
