Mark Isherwood
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood raised the matter in this week’s Business Statement in the Assembly after meeting and hearing the concerns of the North Wales GPs last week.
Mr Isherwood told the Minister for Local Government and Government Business, Jane Hutt, that the doctors are calling for the Welsh Government to intervene and incentivise medical students to train in North Wales.
He said:
“I call for a single statement on the Royal College of General Practitioners Wales ‘Put Patients First: Back General Practice’ campaign. I met a group of GPs in north Wales last week at the campaign’s request to listen to what they had to say after they reported real terms spending on GP practices in Wales as having dropped by more than £27 million over three years. They highlighted a major concern in primary care. They advertised for GPs, in this case in December, but have not had a single response. They cannot get GPs to come to train in north Wales. The average age of GPs in north Wales is now over 50, and therefore it is a ticking time bomb. They need the Welsh Government to intervene and incentivise medical students to come.”
Mr Isherwood told the Minister the GPs also raised a number of other concerns.
“They talked about community services having deviated over 10 years, so now they cannot contact community nurses, district nurses and health visitors in the way that they could previously as part of a team. They have to leave messages for them. They talked about increased bedblocking because of staffing cuts in community hospitals and cuts in nursing and care homes because of regulations – and much much more……..Given the importance of this sincere campaign by a group of very well-intentioned people, it does demand a statement from the Welsh Government.”
The Minister replied; “It is a very serious campaign. I am sure that many Members have written to the Minister for Health and Social Services about the campaign and he will be writing back to those Members.”
Mr Isherwood added: “Concerns have also been raised with me on behalf of nurses working in our remaining Community Hospital Minor Injuries Units that they are being forced to reduce staff levels and will not in future be able to provide 12 hour daily services such as dressing changes and removal of stitches.”
