What changed
Senior Welsh NHS leaders are asking the Welsh government to replace annual health budgets with multi-year funding settlements. The call comes before ministers publish draft spending plans for 2027-28 next week, with health accounting for almost half of the government’s £27.5bn annual budget.
Why it matters
Annual budgets can make it harder to plan changes that take years to deliver. The Welsh NHS Alliance says funding certainty would help shift attention from treating illness after it appears toward prevention, primary and community care, rehabilitation, public health and support for people with long-term conditions.
That matters because cutting one part of health and care can push people into another, more expensive part of the system. The alliance warns that reducing spending in isolation may increase pressure on urgent and emergency care rather than reduce demand overall.
Councils responsible for social services are also warning that their services face considerable pressure and are calling for multi-year settlements. The Welsh government says it wants stronger prevention, fewer health inequalities and more support for independent living.
The politics are tight. The minority government needs backing from at least one opposition party to approve its spending plans, after Labour support helped secure an extra £100m for reducing NHS waiting times over the next five months. Whether ministers offer longer-term certainty, and how opposition parties respond, will become clearer when the draft budget appears next week.
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