When I took up the role of RCPCH Trainee Rep for Wales, back in November 2024, I went into it with the belief that I would be sharing my and my fellow trainees's views and experiences with the College and vice-versa. However, I quickly learned that there was much more to the role that I first thought. It was not long before I was meeting with the Officer for Wales, the Deputies and the rest of the RCPCH Wales staff where there were discussions about an upcoming election and the need to develop the RCPCH Wales manifesto.
This was not that long after the UK General Election and I started thinking 'not another one'. But I found out this one was for the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), not Westminster. I learnt that this election would be held on 7 May 2026 and would look quite different. There are changes to how we'll vote, whom we'll vote for and how many politicians we'll send to Cardiff Bay. I also learnt that, despite the voter turnout in UK general elections being around 60-70%, for previous Senedd elections, that number has never been above 47%.
What wasn't news to me was what we need to deliver, and what we as trainees need from the Welsh Government to be able to better serve children and young people in Wales. The Senedd election will decide who will represent us, and who can form a government. With the Welsh Government having responsibility for a broad range of devolved areas, including Health, Education and Social Care, this election is extremely important for our future and the future of children and young people across Wales.
Developing our election manifesto
At my first RCPCH Wales meeting, we agreed that we wanted to make sure all political parties were aware of what we as current and future paediatricians, and children and young people in Wales want from the next Welsh Government. After many discussions, member surveys and feedback, we put together our manifesto, Putting children first (or Rhoi plant yn gyntaf).
This RCPCH Wales manifesto concentrates on four themes:
- Workforce
- Data and digital
- Transformation
- Health inequalities
These themes regularly come up in the conversations about the things we need to change to enable us to do our jobs better. These points, supported by members' voices, statistics and facts, have been set out in the manifesto and detail how political parties can improve child health in Wales and our services.
Incorporating the trainee voice
Being involved in this process as a resident doctor was eye opening to me. It was definitely not something I imagined doing in this role but I am extremely glad to have had this opportunity. I now know more about politics than I ever did before, which was very little. I also got to see how passionate the College is about capturing the thoughts and opinions of paediatricians at all stages of their careers. It's working hard to influence areas that I had not appreciated before.
As future paediatricians, we trainees are all passionate about child health and improving the lives of children and young people. It’s obvious to me, and I’m sure to many of you, that the next Welsh Government needs to start putting children first and to understand that without a healthy future generation, Wales will struggle to thrive.
As trainees, we have an important voice in advocating for change and setting the direction decisions take. Decisions that may have a small impact on us, but a massive impact on children, young people and their families. As the RCPCH Trainee Rep, I have started this work by influencing the RCPCH Wales manifesto, but now it’s on all of us to take it forward.
Give the manifesto a read (you can download below) and find how you can be involved by emailing us at enquiries-wales@rcpch.ac.uk.