English: Visiting hospitals, visiting picket lines, and speaking to NHS workers, they describe a system in crisis that is stopping them from being able to do their job to the best of their ability. They know that people are dying that they could save, and that is taking a toll on their health and well-being, meaning that retention is increasingly becoming a concern. That's why this is the second step of our five-point plan, to focus specifically on the workforce. I have to address some of the things that were raised by the First Minister yesterday. Of course the NHS is doing fantastic work each day, but if we're speaking to staff and they say there's a crisis, then I am angry that there wasn't that acknowledgement. But they don't just want us to acknowledge there's a crisis; they want to see action taken. That's the purpose of this five-point plan. If we were accused of scaremongering or trying to create drama in politics with our calls last week to acknowledge the crisis, that wasn't the point of it. The point was to acknowledge the truth that everybody knows that our NHS is in crisis and we must take action if we truly value it. Whilst pay is, of course, important in terms of retention, this isn't the only element that needs to be addressed. We need to recruit, retain, redesign and retrain the health and care workforce. The implementation of these four Rs will ensure the establishment of a resilient health and care workforce. We need a costed workforce plan that sets out a range of short, medium and long-term solutions to grow, train and retain the workforce, underpinned by the necessary funding and based on the latest vacancy data and projected patient demand. Last November, 36 organisations from across health and social care, including royal colleges, charities, patient groups and professional bodies, came together to sign a joint letter to the First Minister, calling on the Welsh Government to publish the long-awaited national workforce implementation plan for health and care. The impact of workforce shortages on patient care cannot be underestimated, as waiting times reached record levels in Wales. Cancer lists and ambulance performance times are currently the worst on record, and overall waiting list numbers passed 750,000 for the first time in October 2022. Yet with little to no reliable up-to-date workforce data, no national implementation plan for recruitment and retention, no consistent approach to the collection of accurate vacancy data collated across health boards and trusts, and no transparency on staffing shortages and rota gaps, no method of comparing the lessons learnt on recruitment and retention, and no way of knowing when we will finally receive answers from the Welsh Government, we simply are uninformed about the scale of the workforce crisis. But the responses we have received from a number of healthcare organisations highlight that there is a clear staffing crisis, and we need a clear delivery strategy with targets and full costing for a new workforce plan. The Royal College of Midwives stated that we could only drive improvement in maternity care if there are enough midwives working in the NHS in every part of Wales. The Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians have called for a renewed emphasis on workforce. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners are calling for the introduction of incentives for existing doctors and GPs to remain in the health service. The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of Nursing are calling for a retention strategy. The Welsh Government must reform centralised data collection so that staffing needs can be identified earlier. In addition to expanding and establishing improved pathways to continued professional development, this will ensure that health workers can work at the top of their competence whilst retaining within the NHS. We also note that the Welsh Government have spent £260 million on agency staff in the past year, and this is haemorrhaging the sustainability of our NHS. I was told in a local hospital that I visited in my region that staff were being blocked from appointing to that department and, instead, were regularly calling in agency staff. And some of those agency staff would willingly take on contracts. But that's what I was told, and they were angry because they saw that as wasted money - the fact that they had agency staff willing to take on contracts but were being blocked. This has to be looked at, because the over-reliance on agency staff is a symptom of the Welsh Government's mismanagement of the NHS in Wales. Yes, we'll always need ways of bringing in staff for additional shifts, but profit must be removed from agency working, and we can't face a situation when we aren't seeing people being appointed into the roles when there are shortages and then only reliance on agency staff. We need to see action. This is a plan. I am urging Welsh Government to get behind it, acknowledge there's a crisis, then we can find solutions to save our NHS.
Welsh: Wrth ymweld ag ysbytai, ymweld â llinellau piced, a siarad â gweithwyr y GIG, maent yn disgrifio system sydd mewn argyfwng ac sy'n eu hatal rhag gallu gwneud eu gwaith hyd eithaf eu gallu. Gwyddant fod pobl y gallent eu hachub yn marw, ac mae hynny'n cael effaith ar eu hiechyd a'u lles, sy'n golygu bod cadw staff yn dod yn bryder cynyddol. Dyna pam mai ail gam ein cynllun pum pwynt yw canolbwyntio'n benodol ar y gweithlu. Mae'n rhaid imi sôn am rai o'r pethau a godwyd gan y Prif Weinidog ddoe. Wrth gwrs, mae'r GIG yn gwneud gwaith gwych bob dydd, ond os ydym yn siarad â staff a'u bod yn dweud bod yna argyfwng, rwy'n ddig na chaiff hynny mo'i gydnabod. Ond maent am inni wneud mwy na chydnabod bod yna argyfwng; maent am weld camau'n cael eu cymryd. Dyna ddiben y cynllun pum pwynt hwn. Os cawsom ein cyhuddo o godi bwganod neu geisio creu drama wleidyddol gyda'n galwadau yr wythnos diwethaf i gydnabod yr argyfwng, nid dyna oedd y diben. Y diben oedd cydnabod y gwir y mae pawb yn ei wybod, sef bod ein GIG mewn argyfwng a bod yn rhaid inni weithredu os ydym o ddifrif yn gweld ei werth. Er bod cyflog yn bwysig mewn perthynas â chadw staff wrth gwrs, nid dyma'r unig elfen y mae angen mynd i'r afael â hi. Mae angen inni recriwtio, cadw, ailgynllunio ac ailhyfforddi'r gweithlu iechyd a gofal. O roi'r pedwar cam ar waith, gellir sefydlu gweithlu iechyd a gofal gwydn. Mae arnom angen cynllun wedi'i gostio ar gyfer y gweithlu sy'n nodi ystod o atebion tymor byr, tymor canolig a hirdymor i dyfu, hyfforddi a chadw'r gweithlu, wedi'i gynnal gan y cyllid angenrheidiol ac yn seiliedig ar y data diweddaraf ar swyddi gwag a'r galw a ragwelir gan gleifion. Fis Tachwedd diwethaf, daeth 36 o sefydliadau o bob rhan o iechyd a gofal cymdeithasol ynghyd, gan gynnwys colegau brenhinol, elusennau, grwpiau cleifion a chyrff proffesiynol, i lofnodi llythyr ar y cyd at y Prif Weinidog, yn galw ar Lywodraeth Cymru i gyhoeddi'r cynllun gweithredu cenedlaethol hirddisgwyliedig ar gyfer y gweithlu iechyd a gofal. Ni ellir diystyru effaith prinder yn y gweithlu ar ofal cleifion, wrth i amseroedd aros gyrraedd y lefelau uchaf erioed yng Nghymru. Mae rhestrau canser ac amseroedd perfformiad ambiwlansys ar y lefelau gwaethaf erioed ar hyn o bryd, ac aeth cyfanswm y niferoedd ar y rhestrau aros dros 750,000 am y tro cyntaf ym mis Hydref 2022. Er hynny, heb fawr ddim data cyfredol dibynadwy ar y gweithlu, dim cynllun gweithredu cenedlaethol ar gyfer recriwtio a chadw, dim dull cyson o gasglu data cywir ar swyddi gwag wedi'i gasglu ar draws byrddau ac ymddiriedolaethau iechyd, a dim tryloywder ynghylch prinder staff a bylchau mewn rotâu, dim dull o gymharu'r gwersi a ddysgwyd ar recriwtio a chadw staff, a dim ffordd o wybod pryd y cawn atebion gan Lywodraeth Cymru o'r diwedd, ni wyddom pa mor ddifrifol yw argyfwng y gweithlu. Ond mae'r ymatebion a gawsom gan nifer o sefydliadau gofal iechyd yn nodi bod yna argyfwng staffio amlwg, ac mae arnom angen strategaeth glir ar gyfer cyflawni gyda thargedau ac wedi'i chostio'n llawn i allu llunio cynllun newydd ar gyfer y gweithlu. Dywedodd Coleg Brenhinol y Bydwragedd mai dim ond os oes digon o fydwragedd yn gweithio yn y GIG ym mhob rhan o Gymru y gallem ysgogi gwelliant mewn gofal mamolaeth. Mae Coleg Brenhinol y Llawfeddygon a Choleg Brenhinol y Meddygon wedi galw am bwyslais o'r newydd ar y gweithlu. Mae Cymdeithas Feddygol Prydain a Choleg Brenhinol yr Ymarferwyr Cyffredinol yn galw am gyflwyno cymelliadau i feddygon a meddygon teulu presennol aros yn y gwasanaeth iechyd. Mae Coleg Brenhinol y Seiciatryddion a'r Coleg Nyrsio Brenhinol yn galw am strategaeth cadw staff. Mae'n rhaid i Lywodraeth Cymru ddiwygio'r broses o gasglu data'n ganolog er mwyn gallu nodi anghenion staffio yn gynt. Yn ogystal ag ehangu a sefydlu llwybrau gwell tuag at ddatblygiad proffesiynol parhaus, bydd hyn yn sicrhau bod gweithwyr iechyd yn gallu gweithio ar frig eu cymhwysedd gan aros yn y GIG. Rydym hefyd yn nodi bod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gwario £260 miliwn ar staff asiantaeth yn y flwyddyn ddiwethaf, ac mae hyn yn ddraen ar gynaliadwyedd ein GIG. Dywedwyd wrthyf mewn ysbyty lleol yr ymwelais ag ef yn fy rhanbarth fod staff yn cael eu rhwystro rhag penodi i'r adran honno, ac yn lle hynny, eu bod yn galw staff asiantaeth i mewn yn rheolaidd. A byddai rhai o'r staff asiantaeth hynny'n fodlon gweithio dan gontract. Ond dyna a ddywedwyd wrthyf, ac roeddent yn ddig am eu bod yn ystyried hynny'n wastraff arian - y ffaith bod ganddynt staff asiantaeth yn fodlon gweithio dan contract, ond eu bod yn cael eu hatal rhag gwneud hynny. Mae'n rhaid edrych ar hyn, gan fod yr orddibyniaeth ar staff asiantaeth yn symptom o gamreolaeth Llywodraeth Cymru o'r GIG yng Nghymru. Byddwn bob amser angen ffyrdd o ddod â staff i mewn ar gyfer shifftiau ychwanegol, ond mae'n rhaid cael gwared ar elw o waith asiantaeth, ac ni allwn wynebu sefyllfa lle nad ydym yn gweld pobl yn cael eu penodi i'r swyddi pan fo prinder, a dibyniaeth wedyn ar staff asiantaeth yn unig. Mae angen inni weld camau gweithredu. Dyma gynllun. Rwy'n annog Llywodraeth Cymru i'w gefnogi, cydnabod bod yna argyfwng, ac yna, gallwn ddod o hyd i atebion i achub ein GIG.