Transforming Primary Care in Wales: SWPPC year two midpoint progress update
Published: 22/12/2025
The Strategic Workforce Plan for Primary Care (SWPPC), developed by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) and the Strategic Programme for Primary Care (SPPC) with partners, is strengthening and supporting the primary and community care workforce in Wales. By focusing on education, training, career pathways and better recruitment and retention, the plan sets a clear direction for building a sustainable, compassionate and skilled primary care workforce that meets the needs of communities across Wales.
The plan sets out over 50 actions, aligned with the national Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care and aims to deliver these over a five-year period. Starting in 2024, Year One saw great progress in laying foundations. Now at the midpoint of year two, progress continues with 35 out of 55 planned deliverables underway.
The achievements and plans for year two are:
Reducing health inequalities across Wales
HEIW is working with partners to improve access to quality care in deprived and underserved communities. A strengthened partnership with Public Health Wales and Deep End Cymru will enhance workforce capability and support fairer care across Wales. With new work underway, including an inclusion and prison health training framework, the remainder of Year Two will focus on building a skilled, resilient workforce to deliver care where it’s needed most.
Improving mental health care
HEIW is collaborating with partners to strengthen mental health support in primary and community care by equipping practitioners with the skills to deliver timely, high-quality care and reduce pressure on specialist services. Work has started on the development of the Mental Health Competency Framework and expansion of the Mental Health Training and Resources Hub with new e-learning modules planned. Feedback from learners so far, shows increased confidence in supporting patients, with one noting, “I now have a better understanding of how to handle this subject when speaking to patients.”
Developing the workforce and strengthening leadership
Keeping agile, a new action has been added to the plan, Action 19b, which is a leadership offer for the whole primary and community care workforce. Leadership development is being strengthened through a training needs analysis to understand what the workforce requires and the barriers to accessing courses. Two Clinical Leadership Immersive Programme (CLIP) cohorts are underway and a shortened Advanced Clinical Leadership course is being developed for colleagues who cannot commit to the full programme.
HEIW is also making good progress in developing the primary and community care workforce through induction programmes and the new Practice Manager Framework. A toolkit to support employers and managers in developing multi-professional general medical service teams, along with a multi-professional supervision guide, will be launched by March 2026.
Education and training remain key priorities, with plans for a multi-professional primary and community care landing page on Y Ty Dysgu, the national e-learning platform for NHS Wales. This will improve access to resources, boost confidence and support better patient outcomes.
Enhancing digital skills
Development of new e-learning modules for the NHS workforce on data literacy, clinical safety and digital health literacy is planned. Building on the Digital Capability Framework, these courses will help staff use digital tools confidently and deliver safer, more efficient, person-centred care.
Highlighting prevention
Prevention remains central to the SWPPC, with a proactive, population focused workforce helping to reduce inequalities and prevent long-term conditions.
Following the success of Year One in delivering Level 2 Making Every Contact Count (MECC) training to optometry staff across two health boards, in Year Two, the pilot will be scaled nationally. Initiatives like this directly contribute to improved patient health and wellbeing outcomes. You can learn more about this work by visiting the HEIW website.
Prioritising retention and strengthening workforce planning
HEIW is strengthening staff retention and workforce planning to help build a sustainable, high-quality primary care system. Retention initiatives are being embedded across all development programmes alongside ongoing work to improve workforce pipelines. Scoping is underway to determine whether primary care can be included in the NHS Wales Staff Survey, which will provide valuable insights to further enhance wellbeing and retention.
Next steps
For the rest of Year Two, HEIW will focus on actions that support A Healthier Wales, the Quadruple Aim and national priorities such as quicker access to care and better integrated community services. It will work with NHS Performance & Improvement and partners to deliver across all programme areas, embed completed work into routine practice and monitor progress. HEIW will also include evaluation in each action and explore ways to measure the overall impact of the programme once fully implemented.
Aideen Evans, Strategic Workforce Plan for Primary Care Implementation Lead said:
"We’re starting to see early signs of the difference this work can make, made possible because of the dedication and commitment of staff and partners across primary and community care. I’m genuinely proud of how people have engaged with this plan and the energy they’ve brought to it. As we look ahead, our focus is on building on this momentum and making sure we’re consistently measuring and understanding our impact, so the improvements we make are meaningful and lasting for the people we serve."
For further information please visit the HEIW website and subscribe to HEIW’s SWPPC newsletter to stay up to date on the progress of the plan.