What’s happened 

The Royal College of Podiatry will attend this year’s TUC Cymru Congress, taking place from 19 to 21 May 2026, where affiliated unions debate workplace and public policy issues affecting workers across Wales.  

The College will bring forward, and support, motions focused on NHS working conditions, workforce wellbeing and staff safety.  

One motion will call for NHS Wales to reduce the working week and move towards parity with NHS Scotland, where plans are already underway to introduce a 36-hour week. 

The motion will argue that workforce pressures, burnout and staff retention are becoming major challenges across the NHS, warning that excessive workloads affect both staff wellbeing and patient care.  

Another motion will focus on women’s health and workplace equality within the NHS workforce. It will highlight issues including menopause, endometriosis, pregnancy loss, flexible working and career progression. 

The College will also support a wider multi-union motion calling for stronger protections for NHS workers facing abuse from patients and members of the public. 

The motion will warn that verbal abuse, intimidation, racism, sexism and physical violence had become increasingly common experiences for healthcare staff and it will call for stronger reporting systems, better staff support and a zero-tolerance approach to abuse. 

Why this matters to members 

The Royal College of Podiatry is both a professional body and a trade union representing podiatrists.  

Through TUC Cymru, the College can raise workplace issues affecting members in Wales directly within wider Welsh trade union and policy discussions.  

The College develops its motions through conversations with local NHS representatives in Wales, feedback from members and monitoring wider workforce trends across the NHS. 

This year’s motions reflect broader concerns across healthcare in all four UK nations about burnout, retention, equality at work and staff safety.  

The NHS Staff Survey, published earlier this year, showed rising levels of abuse, harassment and violence directed at NHS workers by patients and the public. 

The College will say that improving working conditions and staff support is increasingly linked to workforce retention, recruitment and the long-term sustainability of all NHS services, including podiatry. 

Who develops the motions? 

The College considers motions developed with its NHS representatives and members in Wales. 

The multi-union motion on staff abuse was considered through the TUC Cymru Equalities Committee and supported by affiliated unions. 

Diana Scott-Brown, who chairs the committee and also serves on the TUC Cymru General Council, worked with equality representatives from many other unions on the motion before it was approved for Congress. 

Links and references 

You can read more about TUC Cymru at TUC Cymru. 

You can read the NHS Staff Survey results on the NHS Staff Survey website.