The Senedd’s health committee has said that the budget proposed by the Welsh government will not be sufficient to fund its plan for improving women’s health services. In a draft budget in December, Finance Minister Mark Drakeford pledged to spend £12bn on the health department with £3mn going towards setting out the first women’s health plan for Wales. While women typically live longer than men, they consistently wait longer for pain relief, live fewer years free of disability and are significantly more likely to have their symptoms dismissed by their doctors. The women’s health plan launched on the 9th of December is an attempt to close this “gender health gap”. “I want this plan to be the start of better care for women—I want women’s voices to be heard and their experiences to be recognised”, said First Minister Eluned Morgan.
Of the £3mn being put towards this plan £750,000 will be spent on research of women’s health conditions. The plan focuses on eight key areas: menstrual health; endometriosis and adenomyosis; contraception; preconception health; pelvic health; menopause; violence against women; and ageing. By 2026, the Welsh Labour government has pledged to set up specialist women’s health hubs in every part of Wales focused on the diagnosis of menstrual conditions. This will be accompanied by further training and education by incorporating these conditions as well as further information about contraception and abortion into the curriculum. The Minister for Mental Health and Well-Being, Sarah Murphy, announced her support for the plan, predicting that it will “empower women to be heard when accessing healthcare”. However, concerns have been raised by several groups and individuals within the Senedd over whether the £3mn budget will be sufficient in carrying out these proposals. The 2025–2026 budget has benefitted from increased funding from Westminster. Ex–First Minister Mark Drakeford has said this would provide a “real opportunity” to “reinvigorate public services”. In December, the Finance Minister proposed a £26bn budget, almost half of which would go towards the health department. However, a recent health report concluded that the £3mn would not stretch far enough to cover the costs of the government’s women’s health plan. “At just a small fraction of the overall health budget, this funding falls short of what is needed to meaningfully address the health needs of women across Wales”, the report found. Concerns were also raised about the lack of investment in social care and mental health services. Drakeford’s budget has also received criticism from the Senedd’s finance committee on the basis that the investment in public services is not substantial enough to mitigate the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.
A separate report was published accusing the Labour government of being “more focused on firefighting issues... at the expense of longer term, strategic budgeting”. Despite the controversy caused in the Senedd, the budget passed its first vote on the 4th of February, providing the government with confidence that it will pass the final vote in March. The Welsh government has also not ruled out revisions to the plan stating that “we will carefully consider the finance committee’s report ahead of our proposed final budget, which will be laid later in February”.