We’ve published our Operational Plan 2025-2026

Today (8 May 2025), we have launched our Operational Plan 2025-2026.

Our 2025–2026 Operational Plan builds on the strong foundations of our existing Strategy, which we have extended by one year. Over the coming year, we will continue to focus on key priorities that help us achieve our goal of improving healthcare for everyone in Wales.

This plan outlines how we aim to achieve our strategic objectives:

1. We will focus on the quality of healthcare provided to people and communities as they access, use and move between services.
2. We will adapt our approach to ensure we are responsive to emerging risks to patient safety
3. We will work collaboratively to drive system and service improvement within healthcare.
4. We will support and develop our workforce to enable them, and the organisation, to deliver our priorities.

We will continue to take a balanced, risk-based approach to our work, prioritising areas where patient safety is most at risk. Our inspection and assurance programme will remain flexible and responsive, ensuring that we check the right services, in the right place, at the right time. We will continue to deliver our statutory responsibilities, including our work under the Mental Health Act, the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IR(ME)R), and independent healthcare regulations.

We understand that healthcare delivery involves a wide range of services, and we are committed to ensuring our work reflects the broader healthcare landscape, focusing on the overall quality of care. We will also strengthen our focus on the experiences of people from diverse communities, challenging inequalities in healthcare access and outcomes.

Chief Executive of Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, Alun Jones says:

The healthcare landscape in Wales is constantly evolving, and we must evolve with it. Over the past few years, we have developed more flexible assurance and inspection models, allowing us to adapt quickly to emerging risks. We will continue to refine these approaches, using intelligence and collaboration with partners to identify and address the most pressing risks to patient safety.

People are at the heart of everything we do, and we remain committed to listening, learning, and acting, to improve healthcare in Wales. As we move forward, we will continue to adapt, collaborate, and challenge ourselves to be the best organisation we can be.