Key Points
- Dr Deiniol Jones was voted the chair/cadeirydd of the BMA’s Welsh Council by members in August 2026.
- He follows Dr Iona Collins, who has led the council since 2022.
- His three-year tenure starts on 10 September 2026 in the next council meeting.
- Dr Jones is a public health doctor with experience working in WHO, Welsh Government, health boards, and Public Health Wales.
- He has been a member of Welsh council and the Welsh resident doctors committee in the past and played a role in securing pay restoration and a new resident doctor contract.
- In his first declarations, he stated that NHS in Wales is currently “in crisis,” with general practice “on the brink” and clinical academia “withering away.”
- He urged for more investments from Welsh government and emphasized the need for collective action and growing membership to make the situation better.
- Welsh government stated that they are aware of the challenges facing NHS and are making efforts to clear waiting lists and a new workforce strategy will be developed in autumn.
Wales (Wales Times) September 07, 2026 — Dr Deiniol Jones has been elected as chair/cadeirydd of the BMA’s Welsh council by its members in August, taking over from Dr Iona Collins who has led the council since 2022. The BMA confirmed that Dr Jones will serve a three-year term and will take up the post from 10 September, the date of the council’s next meeting.
As reported by the BMA media centre, Dr Jones said:
“I have a great deal of experience representing the profession at the BMA, and it will be an honour and a privilege to lead our work here in Wales in this next chapter as chair.”
He added:
“I’d like to thank Dr Iona Collins for her passionate leadership over the last few years; It has been a period of significant change for the BMA as we have won multiple national disputes and become a more effective trade union.”
Who is Dr Deiniol Jones?
Dr Deiniol Jones is a public health doctor based in Wales who has worked with the World Health Organization (WHO), health boards, the Welsh Government, think tanks and Public Health Wales. Within the BMA, he has represented doctors in various roles locally and nationally, including on Welsh council and the Welsh resident doctors committee.
According to the BMA, in those roles he helped to deliver significant restoration of pay and to establish a brand-new modern resident doctor contract with safer working conditions and better protection of training. His election follows a period in which the BMA has negotiated multiple national disputes and sought to strengthen its role as both a professional association and a trade union for doctors across the UK.
What has Dr Jones said about the NHS in Wales?
In his first public comments as incoming chair, Dr Jones issued a stark assessment of the state of health services in Wales. As reported by the BMA media centre, he stated: “The NHS in Wales is in crisis: general practice is on the brink, clinical academia is fading, public health is not prioritised, pay and jobs are eroded, estates and equipment are falling apart, and politicians and NHS leaders have frequently mismanaged the situation.”
He continued:
“We can and must do better, and we can do that by collective action and growing our membership.”
In an interview on BBC Cymru Fyw’s Dros Frecwast programme, he described the situation as “very difficult and unfortunately worsening”, citing daily reports from doctors about corridor care, staff shortages and doctors struggling to find posts. He said:
“Mae meddygon yn siarad gyda ni bob dydd, bob wythnos am ofal coridor… Mae’n sefyllfa fregus ar hyn o bryd yn yr ysbytai.”
Dr Jones also attributed much of the current pressure to past policy choices. Speaking to BBC Cymru Fyw, he said he believed “penderfyniadau llywodraethau’r gorffennol” (decisions by past governments) were responsible for the present situation, “a ni’n talu am e nawr” (and we are paying for it now). He called on the Welsh Government to invest more money and offer a “proper action plan”, adding that “there is a lot to do but there is no choice”.
How has the Welsh Government responded?
The Welsh Government said it welcomes Dr Jones’s appointment and looks forward to working with him, while also thanking Dr Collins for her work. A spokesperson told BBC Cymru Fyw: “Rydym yn deall y pwysau sy’n wynebu ein GIG ac rydym yn benderfynol o fynd i’r afael â nhw.”
The government added that it has already begun addressing pressures by investing to reduce waiting lists and is developing a new workforce strategy to be published in the autumn. This response comes as the BMA and other bodies continue to highlight long waiting times, recruitment and retention challenges, and concerns over infrastructure and equipment across the Welsh NHS.
What are Dr Jones’s priorities as BMA Wales chair?
Outlining his priorities, Dr Jones said he would build on recent successes in campaigning for and securing fairer pay and conditions for all doctors. He pledged to support elected representatives and members to advocate for themselves and the profession in their workplaces and beyond, and to ensure that the welfare of doctors, medical students and patients remains central to the BMA’s work in Wales.
He described his role as being “an ambassador, the voice for the profession, and speak truth to power”. Alongside pay and conditions, his public comments have emphasised the need to stabilise general practice, protect clinical academia, prioritise public health, address erosion in pay and jobs, and improve estates and equipment. He has linked these goals to the broader strategy of collective action and growing BMA membership to strengthen the union’s negotiating position.
Background to the development
The election of Dr Deiniol Jones takes place against a backdrop of prolonged industrial and political tension over NHS funding, workforce and working conditions across the UK, including Wales. Dr Iona Collins, whom he succeeds, chaired the BMA’s Welsh council from 2022 through a period in which the BMA escalated its role as a trade union, engaging in national disputes over pay, pensions and working conditions for doctors at different career stages.
Dr Jones’s own background includes representation work within the BMA’s Welsh structures, notably on the Welsh resident doctors committee, where he was involved in negotiations that led to pay restoration and a new contract for resident doctors with improved safety and training protections. His wider public health experience, including work with the WHO and Public Health Wales, situates him within ongoing debates about prevention, health equity and the wider determinants of health that have featured prominently in recent BMA policy statements in Wales. The timing of his appointment, at the start of September, also coincides with the approach of autumn workforce planning announcements from the Welsh Government and continued pressure on winter preparedness planning for the NHS.
Predictions: how this development may affect doctors, patients and policymakers in Wales
Dr Jones’s election is likely to shape how the BMA in Wales frames its priorities and tactics over the next three years, with direct implications for doctors, patients and policymakers. For doctors, his emphasis on collective action, membership growth and advocacy suggests a continued focus on using industrial and negotiating leverage to address pay, conditions and workload concerns, particularly in general practice, academia and public health. If the BMA under his leadership maintains or increases membership, it could strengthen its hand in future talks with the Welsh Government and NHS employers on contracts, staffing levels and investment in estates and equipment.
For patients, the BMA’s messaging under Dr Jones is likely to keep public attention on systemic pressures such as corridor care, waiting lists and workforce shortages, potentially increasing political pressure to deliver the promised workforce strategy and other investments. However, if industrial tensions persist or escalate, there is a risk of further disruption to services, which could temporarily affect access to care even as the union argues that long-term investment is necessary to stabilise the system.
For policymakers in the Welsh Government and NHS leadership, Dr Jones’s appointment signals a counterpart who is prepared to “speak truth to power” and to link day-to-day operational problems to longer-term strategic failures in funding and planning. His background in public health and experience with national and international bodies may encourage a stronger focus on prevention and population health in BMA advocacy, potentially influencing how workforce and capital investment decisions are framed in upcoming strategies. The extent to which this leads to constructive policy shifts or heightened confrontation will depend on how the government’s autumn workforce strategy and subsequent budgetary choices address the specific concerns he has raised about general practice, clinical academia, public health prioritisation and infrastructure.
