The Welsh Conservatives have today set out bold plans to declare a national health emergency and take immediate action to increase NHS capacity and restore patient safety across Wales.
Under proposals published in their Plan to Fix the NHS and Social Care, a Welsh Conservative Government would trigger a COVID-type emergency response to tackle excessive waiting times, ambulance delays and corridor care.
The plan includes:
• Declaring a health emergency to initiate urgent system-wide action
• Reopening closed community hospital wards for step-down and rehabilitation care
• Reviewing and increasing hospital bed and surge capacity
• Establishing a dedicated NHS Wales Recovery Team
• Creating a new NHS Wales Reserves Service – a bank of trained and vetted volunteers to support the NHS during periods of crisis and peak demand
• Increasing health and social care spending in real terms every year of the next Senedd term
• Ending corridor care and designating 12-hour waits in emergency departments as “never events”
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Peter Fox MS, said:
“After 27 years of Labour mismanagement, our NHS is in crisis. Patients are waiting too long for ambulances, too long in emergency departments, and too long for treatment. That is simply not good enough.
“We will declare a health emergency and respond with the urgency the situation demands. That means reopening beds, boosting staffing levels, and ending the unacceptable practice of treating patients in corridors."
The Welsh Conservatives will also establish an NHS Wales Reserves Service to provide additional resilience in times of peak pressure.
Peter continued:
“Our NHS needs greater flexibility and resilience. An NHS Wales Reserves Service will ensure that when demand surges, trained and vetted volunteers can step forward to support frontline staff.”
Alongside immediate emergency measures, the party has pledged long-term reform to modernise the service, including:
• An NHS Wales Efficiency Taskforce to drive out waste
• Greater use of technology and AI to improve patient communication and operational efficiency
• Retaining, recruiting and training more doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives
• Refunding tuition fees for health professionals who commit to working in the Welsh NHS
• Creating a 21st Century Hospitals Fund to modernise infrastructure
Peter Fox added:
“This is about building an NHS that is better resourced, more accountable and fit for the 21st century. We will invest in staff, modernise our hospitals, strengthen governance and empower patients with real choice.
The Welsh Conservatives have also committed to publishing a Patients’ Rights Charter, improving GP access with a 7-day appointment guarantee, expanding surgical hubs and diagnostic centres, and ensuring cross-border access to care where necessary.
“The people of Wales deserve an NHS that works for them — one that is safe, efficient and focused on delivering high-quality care as close to home as possible. Our plan will fix Wales’ NHS.”
