HEALTH workers slammed the Welsh government’s budget for the NHS for the next year today, calling on it to prioritise the service.

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford laid out the budget for 2026-27 last week with £27.6 billion being allocated for public spending.

Each government department will have its funding pot increased by 2 per cent, which Welsh officials claim will mean a real-terms increase.

But taking evidence on the draft budget earlier this week the Senedd’s finance committee heard the NHS would receive a lower increase than the average over the past 15 years.

The finance scrutiny committee heard from doctor Ed Poole, part of the Wales Fiscal Analysis team at Cardiff University.

Dr Poole said: “It’s below the 2.1 per cent real-terms increase we’ve seen since 2010, which includes the austerity budget years.”

But the Welsh government told the Star that it spent more on health and social care per person in Wales than any other British nation.

“As both the First Minister and Finance Secretary have made clear, we are committed to working with all parties to secure a final budget which supports front-line public services,” a Welsh government spokesperson said.

RCN Wales executive director Helen Whyley said: “The health service in Wales is already at breaking point, and this settlement risks pushing it over the edge.

“Reducing funding in real terms will not deliver the sustainable change that Wales desperately needs.”

The Welsh government has allocated 2.2 per cent for pay awards across the Welsh public service next year, with RCN Wales blasting the below-inflation amount.

And in more bad news for the Welsh government, Unison Cymru has announced it will be balloting ambulance workers for strike action over pay for the 2025-26 settlement.

BMA’s Welsh Council’s Dr Iona Collins said: “If we want to give the health service a fighting chance, we need significant investment which must also extend to recruitment and retention.

“The existing workforce is burnt out and stretched beyond safe limits.”

Plaid Cymru health spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said: “Labour — the so-called party of the NHS — can no longer be trusted to run it.

“A Plaid Cymru government will not only provide an immediate cash injection to bring down spiralling NHS waiting lists by prioritising the longest waits — we’ll stop the short-term thinking that’s plagued the Labour government’s handling of the NHS.”