National Assembly for Wales

Workforce Planning Evidence from the Welsh Language Board

Committee Inquiry: Health and Social Care Workforce Planning

We would firstly like to thank the committee for the opportunity to present evidence to its inquiry and for their inclusion of the Welsh Language as a specific area of concern.

In the absence of a discussion document we have tried to keep our evidence to a minimum but would welcome the opportunity to discuss any element of our submission in more detail or indeed to add further advice at a later date should the Committee feel this would be useful.

The Welsh Language Board believes that a user centred service should mean, amongst other things, a bilingual service, and that in providing such services, the provider(s) should offer linguistic choice to users in accordance with the principle of linguistic equality.

Without the relevant linguistic skills, the delivery of services to the public in Wales through the medium of Welsh will prove impossible.  In order to deliver health and social care services through the medium of Welsh it is essential to plan for a bilingual workforce and we are pleased therefore to be able to offer the evidence below in support of this goal.

About the Welsh Language Board

The Welsh Language Board (The Board) was established as a statutory body by the Welsh Language Act 1993 (the Act) to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language. The Act establishes the principle that in the conduct of public business in Wales, the Welsh and English languages should be treated on a basis of equality. The Board has statutory functions and powers which require public bodies to prepare Language Schemes, detailing how they will

give practical effect to the aforementioned principle. Such bodies include all the Local Authorities, and Health Trusts in Wales, as well as the Welsh Assembly Government and the Local Health Boards

The Welsh Assembly Government’s vision for the language

The Welsh Assembly Government’s key policy document Iaith Pawb – A National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales refers specifically to health and social care: “The Assembly Government is determined to impress the importance of being able to deliver services in the service users’ language of choice in key service areas such as health and social care, and we are working with the service delivery organisations in these areas to delivery organisations in these areas to help them achieve this aim.” (Welsh Assembly Government 2003: 47)

The Strategy for Social Services in Wales over the Next Decade: Fulfilled Lives, Supportive Communities states that “The Welsh language is an essential part of Welsh culture and life. It must be reflected in developing effective local social care strategies as well as in planning, delivering and improving services for individuals whose language of preference is Welsh.” (Welsh Assembly Government 2007: 20)

Designed for Life, the Government’s strategy for creating world class health and social care for Wales in the 21st Century, states that “effective Welsh and English bilingual services are essential to providing quality care”. (Welsh Assembly Government 2005: 13)

The importance of language in health and social care

The Welsh Assembly Government’s key policy document Iaith Pawb – A National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales refers specifically to health and social care: “The Assembly Government is determined to impress the importance of being able to deliver services in the service users’ language of choice in key service areas such as health and social care, and we are working with the service delivery organisations in these areas to delivery organisations in these areas to help them achieve this aim.” (Welsh Assembly Government 2003: 47)

The importance of providing bilingual health care is evidenced in a report by the Welsh Consumer Council, which concluded “that in the case of Welsh-speaking patients, there are instances where they cannot be treated effectively except in their first language or in both their languages. This is especially true in the case of those receiving speech and language therapy, and for the following key groups: people with mental health problems; people with learning disabilities and other special needs; older people and young children.” (Misel 2000: 5)  

Providing Welsh medium social services is also a matter of compliance with the European Charter for regional or Minority Languages. As part of their monitoring work the European Council’s Committee of Experts (COMEX) in 2003 criticised health and care services in Wales for failing to provide sufficient provision through the medium of Welsh: that “for the Welsh language, there appear to be serious shortcomings in implementing the undertaking in relation to health and social care services”. In 2007 COMEX concluded that “a Welsh Language service continues to be a matter of chance rather than design, in general it seems to be reactive rather than proactive and it is still varied whether Welsh was used at care facilities or whether this was promoted”.

The Welsh speaker as stakeholder

Improving access and developing skills are entirely co-dependent and related issues in relation to language. In this respect, improving the range of Welsh language services will go much of the way to addressing access issues.

Much more work needs to be done, however, in order to improve the quality and range of health and care services available through the medium of Welsh.  The key area for improvement is direct personal communication (phone or face to face). It is often the case that individuals cannot receive public services through the medium of Welsh, or have to make special arrangements to receive a Welsh language service.  This is because there is either a general shortage of Welsh speakers or because an organisation has not deployed its Welsh speakers in the most effective manner.  

Workforce planning and the Welsh language

The Welsh Language Act 1993 places an emphasis on service delivery.  It is appropriate that any new approaches to service delivery and workforce planning which might result from this inquiry give full weight to the principle that in the delivery of services to the public the Welsh and English languages should be treated on the basis of equality.  Due consideration should be given to several key areas in this regard:

  • recruitment of new language skills to the workforce;
  • training and development of staff and potential staff
  • development of existing skills and confidence levels;
  • organisation of services with linguistic needs in mind.

To this end the Welsh Language Board, through the revision and development of statutory Welsh language schemes, encourage public bodies to address their workforce issues as part of the implementation of their schemes.  Most schemes already include substantial commitments in this context and care will be needed to ensure that any workforce planning changes emanating from this inquiry are not to the detriment of existing plans or the level of bilingual service delivery.

Recruitment

There are recruitment issues for service providers to address.  They need to ensure that there is an appropriate assessment of posts to identify those which require Welsh-language skills, and recruit accordingly to meet service user needs.  Closely linked to this is the training and support provided by organisations.  Appropriate training needs to be provided to ensure that individuals who wish to improve their language skills, or need to develop Welsh-language skills in order to meet the requirements of their posts, can do so easily and with the full support of the organization.

Given this, the priority areas for ensuring the availability of, and access to, Welsh medium services are:

  • Raising Welsh language skills levels and ensuring that there is a steady growth in the number of bilingual staff who can deliver services through the medium of Welsh
  • Appropriate workforce planning and identification of skills needs, and the provision of appropriate training and support by organisations
  • Ensuring quality Welsh-medium services, whoever might be responsible for their delivery

Centralised vs. local planning

Whilst centralisation of workforce planning may present opportunities it may also present threats with regards to linguistic skills planning.  Even though a more centralised approach could offer a more level standard of recruitment and development of language skills, such an approach could threaten the capacity of organisations to develop workforce planning tools and projects at a local level which take into account the linguistic makeup of the community they serve.  It is our belief that whilst national standards and initiatives must be set, and championed, within the health and care sector a one-size-fits-all approach would be inappropriate with regards to workforce planning and language skills.

Irrespective of whether or not services are localised, centralised, or specialised, language should be a core consideration and incorporated into the workforce planning process with the aim of having a positive effect on service delivery.  Any centralised facilities or planning will have to give thorough consideration to language use and current capacity, as well as the need for development at the local point of contact.

The use of third party providers and agency staff

The public sector has invested to improve Welsh language services since the introduction of the Welsh language Act in 1993.  Modifications which have the effect of placing more front line services in the hands of the voluntary or private sector need to consider the impact this may have on the range and quality of current Welsh language schemes.  The quality of the bilingual service should in no way be diminished through any sub-contracting of service delivery arrangements.  The aim is to improve the availability of  services in Welsh and a clear signal needs to be given to sectors other than the public sector to augment current provision where the capacity to deliver in Welsh falls short.

Welsh Language Services contain specific measures relating to 3rd party contracts and arrangements or agreements made with 3rd parties.  Organisations which sub-contract the delivery of local services, for instance to the private and voluntary sectors, have a responsibility for ensuring that those services are delivered in line with their statutory language schemes.  The full implementation of the 3rd party contract clause of language schemes will improve the quality of local services.

Effective joint working and partnership

Organisations can benefit from sharing services, jointly-planning service delivery and seeing the relationship between their work.  There is insufficient joint-working at present between bodies which deliver services and implement language schemes.  A number of the examples show how a joined-up approach between service providers and different sectors can improve the quality of bilingual services received by the service user.  

It is important that the standards inherent within the language schemes of public bodies also apply to partnerships planning and/or delivering services within defined areas.  The scope of the Welsh Language Act in relation to partnerships is unclear. Given this, it is important that the Assembly Government, often the promulgator of partnership working, gives clear guidance regarding how partnerships should implement the principle of equality between English and Welsh in the course of their work.

Partnership working presents specific challenges for the Welsh language.  The applicability of the Welsh Language Act in relation to partnerships is unclear. The 1993 Act focuses mainly on ‘public bodies’ and individual organisations as partnerships did not feature so evidently in public service culture in the early nineties.  Whilst the Board can include specific clauses (see 2.1) in the language schemes of public bodies and monitor their implementation, it remains the case that partnerships increasingly comprise representatives from the private and voluntary sectors.  Whilst there is a statutory obligation on public bodies to operate in accordance with statutory language schemes, the obligations on bodies from other sectors are inadequate to provide sufficient stimulus for these bodies to consider language matters.  

Any redefinition of partnership and joint working resulting from this inquiry should include careful consideration of the potential for blurring of boundaries and how best to ensure that better workforce planning is implemented with the Welsh speaking service user in mind

Conclusion

If public organisations in Wales are to provide an effective Welsh medium service then they will need to ensure they have staff in the right places who can work bilingually.  In order to realise this goal they will have to work purposefully to plan and manage a workforce which nurtures and attracts the bilingual skills necessary to do the job.

Appendix 1

Some examples of best practise

Developing Skills – North Wales Police

North Wales police may be sighted as an example of good practice in relation to staffing measures. These measures include:-

  • an innovative Welsh Language Scheme
  • more business use of Welsh
  • basic Welsh skills (level 1) required by all joiners and a graded approach to learning  has been  determined up to  level 5
  • recruitment and training through the medium of Welsh
  • The opportunity for all to attend the in-house Welsh language training provision
  • increasing number of ‘Welsh Essential’ posts
  • guaranteed language choice in Custody and Control Room
  • performance indicators  for language skills attainment and recruitment

The Chief Constable has mastered the Welsh language and gives the organisation a clear lead; a dedicated Language Consultant, Bilingual Promotion Officer and Recruitment Officer were appointed; there has also been investment in training for the police force and staff alike. In addition, a Police Authority Member is responsible for maintaining an overview of linguistic developments within the service.

Developing Skills – Countryside Council for Wales

The Council has developed a bursary scheme in response to the shortage of appropriately qualified welsh-speaking graduates with science or other relevant degrees.  The Council contributes to the cost of graduates undertaking specific degrees, which are taught bilingually, at 2 specific Universities in Wales.  The financial contribution is unconditional, and not linked to future employment at the Council.

Developing Skills - North West Wales NHS Trust

This Trust is working to increase the numbers of Welsh speakers within its workforce through the development of the Cadet Scheme.  This is a mentoring and scholarship scheme for prospective Welsh-speaking nurses and those Welsh-speaking students who wish to study medicine.  

Joint-working - North Wales Local Health Boards

The 6 North Wales LHBs have jointly appointed a language officer and administrator.  The role and responsibilities of this Welsh Language Unit include translation service to the 6 LHBs in North Wales, simultaneous translation, networking and sharing best practice, and offering support and linguistic awareness training to staff within the LHBs.

Putting a strategic structure in place – Welsh for Adults

The teaching of Welsh for Adults is currently being restructured in Wales.  From April 2006, 6 language centres in different areas of Wales will have responsibility for the arranging and providing Welsh for Adults, with strategic responsibility resting with the Assembly Government.  Whilst it is too early to comment on the success or otherwise of this arrangement, the restructuring of the provision does signify a more strategic and joined-up approach to Welsh-language provision.  These centres will have an important role in developing the skills base of the workforce within their specific areas, and have the potential to become centres of excellence in terms of Welsh-language skills acquisition.

Fora to share and learn

In the field of Local Government, Rhwydiaith, a committee administered by the Welsh Local Government Association, was established to promote the use of Welsh within Local Authorities.  Originally a specific post of Rhwydiaith facilitator was created but the handling of the Welsh language within the Association has since changed.  Several fora exist within the Health Sector including the NHS Welsh Language Contact Points Group which meets at an officer level to discuss and share best practice, and the Welsh Language Champions of the NHS Trusts group who discuss matters at a higher, decision-making level.