A NEW strategy by the Welsh Government, working with the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, to provide more health and care services through the medium of Welsh has been warmly welcomed by the Union of Welsh Independent Churches – which has been campaigning for such provision for almost a decade.
“It’s a clinical need,” said Dr Geraint Tudur, General Secretary of the Union. “First-language Welsh speakers with dementia often lose the ability to speak English and a number of toddlers from Welsh-speaking homes may not yet have learnt English.
“The need is recognised by the Welsh Government, but there’s a shortage of Welsh-speaking medical staff to meet the demand.”
“It’s very gratifying that a wide range of medical courses are provided by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. We urge students to take advantage of this provision. Given the demand for bilingual staff in health and care, people who follow such courses should have a better chance of finding work after leaving college.”
“But as well as creating more job opportunities for our young people, this is great news for patients and people in residential care,” said Dr Tudur.
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