Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has launched a new campaign: Use Your Welsh, to encourage staff to use their Welsh when speaking to patients, if even they only know a few words.

Thousands of staff are being encouraged to use Welsh across North Wales and it’s hoped the campaign will have a positive impact on patient care, especially for Welsh speakers with dementia and stroke patients.

Welsh is spoken by over 80% of people in parts of Gwynedd – with about one-in-four in Wales speaking some Welsh.

Eleri Hughes-Jones, who is the Welsh language service manager for BCUHB, said: “What we have noticed over a number of years is that staff who are able to speak Welsh don’t use their Welsh because they haven’t got the confidence.

“The aim of this campaign is to encourage them and to reassure them. Even if you can only say a few words – it can make a difference to a patient.”

Ward support worker Lesley Ann Davies said it was clear how using the language helped on her elderly care ward at Bangor’s Ysbyty Gwynedd. she said: “It sets a different tone – and they respond much better to me. It helps me make sure they get the care they need, because there is more trust there – it is automatic.”

The campaign is being promoted in Bangor, at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire, and Wrexham’s Maelor Hospital.

Yankier Perez, a Pharmacy Technician at Ysbyty Gwynedd, discussed why he has learnt the Welsh language after he moved to Wales from Cuba six years ago, and the effect this has had on his work, and on his personal life.

Yankier said: “It does make a great difference – especially for patients as well – when they come to hospital they are sometimes really stressed.

“It’s not the situation or the place where you want to be. Being able to speak in Welsh to them – I think it makes them happier. I think it’s a little bit of respect too.”