Healthcare Summit highlights shared concerns and priorities across NHS Wales
The Healthcare Summit brings together organisations from across Wales' healthcare system, including inspectorates, auditors, improvement bodies and patient representative organisations, to share intelligence and identify emerging issues affecting healthcare services. By bringing together different perspectives from across the system, the Summit helps build a collective understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing NHS Wales, supporting shared learning and informing improvement efforts.
The latest Healthcare Summit, held on 12 and 19 May 2026, identified a number of common challenges and priorities facing healthcare services across Wales. This year's discussions adopted a new thematic approach, focusing on system-wide issues rather than individual organisational updates. Members recognised the significant work taking place across NHS Wales, while highlighting the increasing impact of operational, workforce and financial pressures on services.
Key themes
Several themes emerged consistently throughout discussions. These included workforce pressures and the impact they are having on healthcare services, the need to turn learning from inspections, reviews and assurance activity into lasting improvements, and reducing variation in access to care and patient experience across Wales.
Members also highlighted the importance of stronger working between health, social care and community services to improve patient journeys and outcomes. Alongside this, discussions focused on the challenge of balancing immediate operational and financial pressures with the longer-term changes needed to deliver sustainable improvements across NHS Wales.
Areas of focus
Urgent and emergency care
Members highlighted the importance of reducing avoidable attendances at emergency departments through earlier intervention, stronger community services and improved access to alternatives. Concerns were also raised about the impact of system pressures on patient safety, dignity and experience, as well as ongoing challenges with patient flow and discharge pathways.
Primary care access and communication
Access to GP and dental services, navigating healthcare pathways and communication with patients remain areas of concern. Members emphasised the need for clearer information and a more consistent approach across Wales.
Planned care
Long waiting times and growing demand remain significant challenges. Members emphasised the need to manage waiting lists as active pathways of care, ensuring patients receive appropriate support, monitoring and communication while waiting for treatment.
Workforce
Workforce pressures continue to affect service quality, patient safety and organisational resilience. Recruitment and retention challenges, staff wellbeing, reliance on temporary staffing and skills gaps were identified as ongoing concerns across NHS Wales.
Culture, leadership and speaking up
Members recognised the importance of strong leadership and positive organisational cultures in supporting safe and effective care. While examples of good practice were noted, concerns remain about ensuring staff feel heard and that issues raised lead to visible improvement.
Mental health services
Ongoing pressures within mental health services were highlighted, including workforce challenges, fragmented pathways, pressures on community services and concerns about ageing infrastructure. Members also discussed preparations for implementation of the new Mental Health Act.
Maternity and neonatal services
The Summit discussed progress following the All-Wales Assurance Assessment of Maternity and Neonatal Services. Members welcomed the extensive improvement work underway but stressed the importance of ensuring recommendations lead to sustainable improvements for women, babies and families.
Governance and learning
While assurance and governance arrangements are generally well established, members highlighted the need to strengthen learning systems and demonstrate how feedback from patients, staff and incidents leads to measurable improvement.
Estates and infrastructure
Ageing buildings, backlog maintenance and environmental challenges were identified as growing risks to safe and sustainable care, particularly within mental health and learning disability services.
Financial pressures
Members highlighted the significant financial challenges facing NHS Wales and the impact these can have on service delivery, improvement activity and long-term sustainability.
Looking ahead
The themes discussed at the Healthcare Summit reflect issues identified collectively by partner organisations through their assurance, regulatory, inspection and improvement activities. Sharing these insights helps support learning across the system and contributes to a wider understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing healthcare services in Wales.
The Summit will continue to bring organisations together to share intelligence and inform future discussions aimed at improving the quality, safety and sustainability of healthcare services for people in Wales.