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Cylfaa · Canolfan Iechyd · The Health Centre

Iechyd a GofalHealth, Care & Safety

This is the health, care & safety home of Cylfaa. It is for employers taking health, care and safety into a classroom, schools planning careers sessions, and students who want to know what the jobs are really like.

Name this owl · A new neighbour in Cylfaa. Students in our pilot schools are choosing the name. Send an idea

Pack coming this term
Register interestFor students
Map of Cylfaa with Canolfan Iechyd lit up. Select any home to visit its page. TŴR CODI MELIN YNNI GWEITHDY LUNIO TŴR FFLACH FFERM ARAD GLAN ATOM NEUADD MENTRO GARDD LLIW Y SALON CAE'R HER CANOLFAN IECHYD ✦ YOU ARE HERE ✦

Rydych chi yma · You are here

Canolfan Iechyd in the village

Canolfan Iechyd is one of the newest homes in Cylfaa. Each home is a sector of Welsh work, with its own pack and its own skills gap to close.

See the whole village

The skills gap

The gap Canolfan Iechyd is closing

Current figures for Wales, and North Wales where they exist. Every number links to where it came from.

100,224NHS Wales staff (full-time equivalent)
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December 2025, up 1.6% in a year and 25.8% since 2018. Nurses and midwives are the biggest group at 40,212.

Source: Welsh Government, May 2026

84,908People working in social care in Wales
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2025 estimate, up 2.2%. There were 6,103 vacancies, and about half were in home care (domiciliary care).

Source: Social Care Wales, July 2026

17,000+Staff at Betsi Cadwaladr health board
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North Wales's NHS, with a £1.3bn budget. It had 451 registered nurse vacancies in 2025, the most of any Welsh health board.

Source: Betsi Cadwaladr UHB, Dec 2025

Where employers are short
  • Home care (domiciliary) workers

    Social care had 6,103 vacancies in 2025, up 757 on 2024. Around half were in domiciliary care, supporting people in their own homes.

    Source: Social Care Wales, July 2026

  • Registered nurses in North Wales

    Betsi Cadwaladr had 451 registered nurse vacancies, the most in Wales. Welsh health boards spent £88.7m on agency nurses in 2024-25.

    Source: RCN Nursing in Numbers 2025, Dec 2025

  • Keeping care staff in the sector

    In 2023/24, 8,187 people joined Welsh social care but 8,709 left: a net loss of 522 staff.

    Source: Institute of Public Care for Social Care Wales, March 2026

  • Welsh language confidence in early years

    In the 2025 early years survey, 18.2% could not speak Welsh and 49.6% had entry-level Welsh only.

    Source: Social Care Wales, Oct 2026

  • Doctors trained in North Wales

    The North Wales Medical School at Bangor took 80 students in 2024, rising to 140 a year from 2029-30, to tackle local shortages.

    Source: Bangor University, Oct 2024

Jobs and pay

What the jobs pay

Six real roles, from a first apprenticeship to a degree route. Salaries are typical yearly pay, with the usual range.

Through every Byd

Green and digital in health, care & safety

Green and digital skills are changing every job in Wales, so every pack has a slide for each, written for this Byd.

Lliw's green path

Greener Care Is Healthier Care.

Read more

Climate change harms health, so NHS Wales is cutting its own carbon: cleaner buildings, smarter medicines and less waste. Every role can help.

  • ~25%Cut in NHS building & travel carbon

    NHS Wales cut building and transport emissions by almost a quarter from 2018-19 to 2024. Supply chain is next.

    Source: Welsh Government, Nov 2025

  • 96%Inhaler carbon from spray inhalers

    Gas-powered inhalers made 96% of inhaler carbon in Wales in April 2026, yet only half of items. Pharmacists help switch.

    Source: AWTTC, April 2026

  • £4.3mSaved by a hospital solar farm

    12,000 solar panels power a third of Morriston Hospital in Swansea, saving £4.3m on energy bills so far.

    Source: Swansea Bay News, Nov 2025

Fflach's digital spark

Healthcare Runs on Tech Now.

Read more

From apps to scanners to virtual reality wards, health and care jobs use digital tools every day. Being good with tech is a real advantage.

  • NHS Wales App

    Over 657,700 people have registered to order prescriptions, check waiting lists and get health advice, in Welsh or English.

  • Welsh Nursing Care Record

    Nurses record care on bedside tablets, not paper. Nearly 20 million nursing notes had been recorded across Wales by late 2024.

  • Virtual reality wards

    Coleg Cambria's £14m Nant building in Wrexham has simulated hospital wards and VR, so students practise before real patients.

  • Diagnostic imaging

    Radiographers run X-ray and scanning equipment to see inside the body. Bangor University trains diagnostic radiographers.

Gemau Cylfaa · The Cylfaa Games

Play in Canolfan Iechyd

Free games for students, families and classes. Presenters: they make a good last five minutes.

Job ExplorerFlip the job cards in Canolfan Iechyd: what the jobs pay and how to get in.Which Owl Are You?Eight questions. Find out which home in Cylfaa is yours.
All the Cylfaa games

Enwi'r dylluan · Name this owl

This owl needs a name.

A new neighbour has moved into Canolfan Iechyd, and nobody has named the owl who lives here yet. The students in our pilot schools are choosing.

Every Cylfaa owl has a Welsh name that means something. Codi means “to build”. Fflach means “spark”. Mentro means “to dare”. What would you call the owl who looks after health, care and safety?

  1. Send your ideaA Welsh name is best. Tell us what it means.
  2. We make a shortlistWith the teachers in the pilot schools.
  3. Pilot students voteThe winning name moves into Cylfaa, and your school gets the credit.

Send your name idea

We don't ask for your name or email. Just your idea, your school and your year.

Please don't put your own name in your idea. How we use what you send

Routes in

Four ways in

Real courses and schemes at North Wales colleges, universities and employers.

  1. Apprenticeship

    Earn while you learn, from £8.00 an hour (April 2026). Grŵp Llandrillo Menai's Level 1 course leads to a Foundation Apprenticeship in Children's Care, Play and Learning.

  2. College

    Coleg Cambria runs Nurse Cadets with Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Grŵp Llandrillo Menai offers Health, Social Care and Childcare at Rhyl, Rhos-on-Sea and Llangefni.

  3. University Degree

    Bangor: nursing, midwifery, radiography and medicine at the North Wales Medical School. Wrexham: nursing, physio, OT, speech therapy, dietetics.

  4. Higher / Degree Apprenticeship

    Already working? Grŵp Llandrillo Menai's bilingual Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care (Llangefni, awarded by Bangor) runs two days a week.

Employers in this Byd
  • Betsi Cadwaladr University Health BoardBangor, Bodelwyddan and Wrexham
  • Welsh Ambulance ServiceNorth Wales and all of Wales
  • Wrexham County Borough CouncilWrexham
  • Flintshire County CouncilMold, Flintshire
  • Denbighshire County CouncilRhyl and Ruthin
  • Coleg CambriaWrexham

The pack · for employers

Walk into a classroom ready.

The health, care & safety pack is being built now and is coming this term. This is what will be in it.

What's in the pack
  • The full deck with speaker notes · scripted, timed and ready to present
  • A clean deck · the same slides without notes, for the screen
  • A 25-minute version · for a tight assembly slot or form time
  • Printables · role cards, myth busters, guess the salary, and activity sheets for Explorer (Years 7 to 8), Investigator (Years 9 to 10) and Strategist (Years 11 to 12)
  • A run sheet and a feedback form · so you know what happens when, and the school can tell you how it went

Built for Welsh classrooms. Mapped to Curriculum for Wales and the Four Purposes, with Gatsby Benchmarks evidenced. Bilingual, Welsh and English. Neurodiverse-friendly by design. From September 2026, careers and work-related experiences are a legal requirement under Curriculum for Wales.

Log each session in Owl Impact® and it becomes verified social value evidence.

Register interest. Be first when it's ready.

Leave your details and we'll tell you the moment the pack is ready.

We'll be in touch within 2 working days · hello@owl.wales · Privacy policy

Cae'r Her · The Cylfaa Challenge: young people solve Wales's skills gaps themselves, and the winning idea gets funded and built for real.

Bring the Challenge to your school

For students and parents

Which Byd are you?

Real Welsh jobs in health, care and safety, what they pay and how to get in. The student pages for every Byd live here.

Explore your future

Find your Byd

Byd is Welsh for "world". Every home in Cylfaa is a Byd: a world of work. Join your school's team for the Cylfaa Challenge and send your Gofyn, your ask, to the Cylfaa panel.

Sources

Where the figures come from

Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 2026.

See all sources
  1. Welsh Government, NHS workforce: 31 December 2025 (SFR 10/2026) · 19 May 2026
  2. Social Care Wales, Social care workforce report 2025 news release · 21 July 2026
  3. Social Care Wales, Impact report 2024-25: registered workforce · March 2025 data
  4. Social Care Wales, Early years and childcare workforce survey 2025 · Updated 5 Oct 2026
  5. Institute of Public Care for Social Care Wales, Evaluation of pay structures in social care in Wales · March 2026
  6. NHS Wales Agenda for Change pay scales 2026/27 · Updated 27 Sep 2026
  7. RCN Wales, 3.3% pay award for 2026/27 · 12 Feb 2026
  8. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, About us · Accessed Oct 2026
  9. Deeside.com, RCN Nursing in Numbers 2025: North Wales nurse shortfall · 8 Dec 2025
  10. Deeside.com, HEIW graduate matching figures summer 2026 · 28 Jun 2026
  11. HEIW, Paramedic science training programmes 2026-27 statement · 20 Apr 2026
  12. Welsh Ambulance Service, Student and graduate paramedics · 1 Apr 2026
  13. Welsh Ambulance Service, Qualified Paramedic (Band 6) advert, North Wales · 19 Sep 2024
  14. Denbighshire County Council, Social Worker advert · 10 Oct 2025
  15. National Careers Service, Nursery worker (UK figure) · Accessed Oct 2026
  16. Apprentice minimum wage from 1 April 2026 (£8.00) · 2026
  17. Welsh Government, New plan to make NHS Wales greener · 6 Nov 2025
  18. AWTTC, NHS Wales inhaler carbon footprint report · April 2026
  19. Swansea Bay News, Morriston Hospital solar farm · 10 Nov 2025
  20. Welsh Government, NHS Wales App update · 21 Jan 2026
  21. Digital Health and Care Wales, Welsh Nursing Care Record milestone · 9 Dec 2024
  22. Betsi Cadwaladr UHB, Coleg Cambria partnership · 13 May 2026
  23. Business News Wales, Wrexham Social Care Academy · 17 Mar 2026
  24. Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Health, Social Care and Childcare Level 1 · Accessed Oct 2026
  25. UCAS, GLLM FdA Health and Social Care (Llangefni, bilingual) · Accessed Oct 2026
  26. Wrexham University, Nursing and allied health undergraduate degrees · Accessed Oct 2026
  27. Bangor University, School of Health Sciences courses · Accessed Oct 2026
  28. Bangor University, Launch of the North Wales Medical School · 3 Oct 2024
  29. Flintshire County Council, Social Worker (Adults) advert · Accessed Oct 2026