47 organisations have urged Welsh government cabinet secretaries and ministers to work to reduce poverty and inequalities.

Wales currently has one of the highest poverty rates among the four UK nations, with 29 per cent of children and 21 per cent of working-age people living in poverty.

A range of health and care organisations have written to all Welsh Government cabinet secretaries and ministers, requesting information on how they are working to reduce the impact of poverty and inequalities in each of their remits.

Previously, many of the same organisations wrote to the Welsh Government in April 2023, but say since then little progress has been made, with families continuing to face inequalities and share the 'devastating' impact poverty is having on their lives.

These organisations are once again calling for a 'joined-up delivery plan' that sets out milestones, timelines, and clear targets detailing what every Welsh Government department is doing to tackle inequalities within their remit, and how cabinet secretaries and ministers are working together to reduce the impact of poverty and deprivation on the people of Wales.

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Wales officer, Dr Nick Wilkinson, said: "Across the child health workforce we see the harsh impact of child poverty and inequalities in our clinical interactions every day.

"It’s in the impact of poor-quality housing, limited access to nutritious food, low school attendance, rising mental health concerns and social isolation.

"Yet, the impact of poverty and inequalities on children’s health is not inevitable.

"This is why RCPCH Wales brought together charities, representative bodies and professionals across the sector, so we can call on the government with one united voice to act.

"For change to happen, we need to see a cross-governmental national delivery plan that will reverse the accelerating impact of poverty and inequalities on health outcomes, for the good of all our children in Wales, and our future society."

Welsh NHS Confederation assistant director, Nesta Lloyd-Jones, said: "The wider determinants of health - fair work, housing, transport, access to green spaces, leisure and the arts - are all essential to our health and wellbeing.

"In such economically challenging times, budgets impacting the wider determinants of health become more squeezed.

"Improving population health and wellbeing requires an integrated approach across all public services, all sectors and therefore all government departments."

Royal College of General Practitioners Cymru Wales vice chair, Dr Claire Campbell, said: "A patient often is impacted by inequality across a whole range of aspects of their life by the time they see their GP.

"Every government department has its part to play in delivering better health outcomes.

"We are all in this together."