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Policy and campaigns in Wales

What we are doing

Over 1,500 members in Wales work in hospitals and the community across 30 different clinical specialties – educating, improving and influencing for better health and care. We campaign for improvements to healthcare, medical education and public health and we organise high-quality conferences and teaching. Lowri Jackson leads on campaigns and media enquiries for Wales.

What we have produced

It is with a heavy heart that we write this. In a week when it was reported that female surgeons in the NHS are being sexually harassed, assaulted and in some cases raped by colleagues, it has become clear that in some corners of the world, even in our own beloved Wales, these behaviours are not only accepted, they are justified and even forgiven.

RCP Cymru Wales has responded to the Welsh government consultation on draft proposals for the rebalancing care and support programme.

As the Welsh NHS marks 75 years of universal healthcare, almost 30 royal colleges and professional bodies representing tens of thousands of nurses, doctors, therapists, social workers, pharmacists and paramedics have come together in a joint call to protect patients by increasing staffing numbers.

RCP Cymru Wales has responded to the Social Care Wales consultation on the social care workforce delivery plan 2023 to 2026.

RCP Cymru Wales has responded to the Senedd inquiry into supporting people with chronic conditions.

33 organisations come together to ask Welsh government ministers how they are working with officials to reduce the impact of inequalities and poverty.

RCP Cymru Wales has published a new paper, endorsed by 17 organisations, that sets out findings from a joint workshop with regional partnership boards in Wales.

RCP Cymru Wales has published a new paper, endorsed by 22 organisations that calls on the new NHS Wales Executive to work in partnership with patients and clinicians to lead change.  

RCP Cymru Wales has published the summary and findings from the Welsh royal colleges and professional bodies advisory group spring workshop with Health Education and Improvement Wales on NHS Wales workforce data and intelligence.

RCP Cymru Wales has published the summary and findings from the spring 2023 meeting of the Welsh specialty and specialist (SAS) doctor network. 

RCP Cymru Wales has launched a major new report calling for investment in emergency cancer care at the front door.

RCP Cymru Wales launches a new briefing paper calling on NHS Wales health boards to invest in staff, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors.  

Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published a new briefing which calls for a cross-government delivery plan on poverty and inequalities for Wales.
RCP Cymru Wales has today launched the latest report from its Cyswllt RCP Connect series of visits to Welsh hospitals.

A new briefing from the Welsh NHS Confederation Health and Wellbeing Alliance and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) describes how the NHS, local government and third sector organisations across Wales are working to break down barriers and tackle health inequalities.

Thirty-six organisations come together to call on the Welsh government to publish its national workforce implementation plan for health and care.

A new RCP Cymru Wales report highlights the importance of training doctors locally in north Wales as a solution to the workforce crisis.  

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Welsh government’s stakeholder questionnaire on establishing an NHS Executive for Wales.

31 organisations, including royal colleges, patient groups and third sector bodies have written to the Senedd Health and Care Committee in response to a request for views on the Welsh government’s proposed hybrid model for the new NHS executive for Wales.

24 royal colleges and allied health professional (RCAHP) bodies in Wales have established a multidisciplinary external advisory group on workforce planning, service transformation and other shared priorities.

The Welsh NHS Confederation Health and Wellbeing Alliance, in partnership with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is calling on the Welsh government to produce a cross-government plan to reduce poverty and tackle inequalities.

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Welsh government’s plan for transforming and modernising planned care and reducing waiting lists. 

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published a report after its virtual visit to Swansea Bay University Health Board in November 2021.

RCP Cymru Wales has published findings from a recent virtual workshop of staff, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors in Wales, calling for a fresh approach to recruiting doctors and bringing down hospital waiting lists.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published a follow-up review after its virtual visit to Wrexham Maelor Hospital in May 2021 and an initial report published in July 2021.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published a follow-up review after its virtual visit to the Grange University Hospital in June 2021, and an initial report published in August 2021.

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Health Education and Improvement Wales education and training plan 2023/24. 

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Senedd health and social care committee inquiry into mental health inequalities.

RCP Cymru Wales has launched a new report calling for investment in ‘hospital at home’ services that provide specialist medical care in the community across Wales.

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Welsh government’s health and social care winter plan 2021 to 2022. 

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Senedd health and social care committee short inquiry into the impact of the waiting times backlog on people in Wales who are waiting for diagnosis or treatment.

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the Senedd health and social care committee short inquiry into hospital discharge and its impact on patient flow through hospitals. 

Convened by RCP Cymru Wales, 22 organisations have come together to call for a single national body with strategic oversight of NHS Wales to drive improvements in patient care and hold health boards to account.  

As the Welsh NHS enters a second pandemic winter, 17 medical royal colleges and faculties convened by RCP Cymru Wales have come together with a joint statement calling for national action on workforce shortages, health inequalities and the NHS backlog.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP Cymru Wales) has launched its first ever Cyswllt RCP Connect event report following a virtual workshop with clinicians in south-west Wales.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has launched Recover, rebuild, renew, a follow up report to our 2019 manifesto calls, Breaking down barriers: Our action plan for the next Welsh government.

Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Cymru Wales has written on behalf of the Welsh NHS Confederation health and social care policy forum to the first minister to call for a cross-government strategy for tackling wider health inequalities in Wales.

In 2021-22, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) should support doctors to deliver the best care possible by investing in postgraduate training, medical education, and career development.

Ahead of the 2021 Senedd election, 36 organisations from across health, social care, transport and housing, convened by RCP Cymru Wales, have signed up to a paper which calls for urgent Welsh government action on health inequalities.

RCP Cymru Wales has written to the Welsh government, advocating for a fair, transparent, and robust process of candidate selection and interview.

Ahead of the 2021 Senedd election, RCP Cymru Wales has launched its manifesto calls for the next Welsh government.

Following an inspiring evening workshop held in Cardiff earlier this year, RCP Cymru Wales has published a new report full of tips and advice for developing self-confidence as a clinical leader in the NHS and managing a busy work–life balance.

RCP Cymru Wales has published its response to the joint draft health and social care workforce strategy from Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) and Social Care Wales, calling for an ambitious, patient centred and clinically led approach, accompanied by a clear action plan.

As the Senedd cross party group on medical research met for the final time on Wednesday 10 July 2019 before parliamentary summer recess, the RCP Cymru Wales published a variety of recommendations aimed at the Welsh Government, NHS Wales, doctors, patients and research bodies. 

Welsh hospitals are understaffed and overstretched. Over two-thirds of trainees report regular and frequent rota gaps, almost one-third of advertised consultant posts go unfilled, and absence due to sickness is rising.

The Royal College of Physicians' (RCP's) 'Feeling the pressure: Patient care in an overstretched NHS in Wales' report documents the results of a snapshot survey on the winter pressures faced by doctors in Wales. 
The RCP in Wales has responded to the National Assembly for Wales Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry into primary care in Wales. 
The RCP in Wales has responded to the National Assembly for Wales Health, Social Care and Sport Committee consultation on the Public Health (Wales) Bill. 
The RCP in Wales has responded to the National Assembly for Wales External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee inquiry into the implications for Wales of Britain exiting the European Union. 
The RCP in Wales has responded to the National Assembly for Wales Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry into medical recruitment. 
The RCP's new report, Physicians on the front line: The medical workforce in Wales in 2016, calls for a long-term vision for the Welsh NHS that shows real ambition on service change.
The RCP in Wales has responded to the National Assembly for Wales Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry into the sustainability of the health and social care workforce in Wales.
The RCP in Wales has responded to the National Assembly for Wales Health, Social Care and Sport Committee inquiry into winter preparedness in Wales 2016-17.

Health policy played a central role in the campaigns of all political parties during the National Assembly for Wales election in May 2016.

The Rising to the challenge: Improving acute care, meeting patients’ needs in Wales report interprets the Future Hospital Commission model for a Welsh context and proposes clear, positive and constructive solutions.