Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s plans to train more doctors? [W]

Thank you for the question. May I welcome the Member, and each and every Member who will make their first contributions today?

As part of the compact agreed with Plaid Cymru to move Wales forward, we will focus on increasing the number of GPs and health workers in the primary care sector in Wales.

Thank you very much. I’m very pleased to hear that you acknowledge that there is a need to move on now to train doctors. Will those plans include looking at the provision for north Wales? Because the problems, as you know, are very serious in north Wales, and the need for doctors in hospitals and in rural surgeries is very great. Would you, therefore, be willing to move forward to create a business plan for a medical school for north Wales, in Bangor? My predecessor, Alun Ffred Jones, has started this work, using the expertise available in Bangor in order to move on with this scheme, and I would like you to commit today to making a business plan for this. Thank you.

That’s something that we need to consider, of course, and I look forward to working under the terms of the agreement to ensure that we do move forward in ensuring that there are more workers in the care sector and more health workers more generally here in Wales. It’s very important, of course, that we don’t concentrate only on doctors, important as they are, but that we also look at ways of assisting all professions delivering care and health for our people.

First Minister, training doctors is important to the future of our health services, but so is training more nurses, physios, radiographers and all other health professions. The workforce planning model that was used may no longer be fit for purpose today. As such, will you ask your new health Secretary to actually look at the workforce planning model to ensure it’s fit for purpose and will recognise the change in societal needs and demands of service users and staff? And will this ensure that the training needs that all health professionals have, and what we have for our service, are appropriate? And will you ensure the funding is there to actually ensure the undergraduate places can deliver those training needs?

Indeed so, and I know that the new Minister will be looking at this as a matter of urgency as part of his portfolio to build on the work that has already been done. We know that training more professionals of all types in the health sector is important, but also recruiting them, because training them doesn’t necessarily mean that they stay in Wales or indeed the UK. And, as the Member knows, we have been working to ensure that Wales is seen as a good country to work in, because we know that competition is fierce across Europe, and across the world, for medical professionals, and it’s hugely important that we have a health service that is seen as an attractive place to work.

First Minister, the last Government’s doctor recruitment campaign was not successful. That was clear from the fact that access to GPs across mid Wales is becoming more and more difficult. Can I ask you what your new coalition Government intends to do to specifically address the shortage of doctors in more isolated communities across Wales?

Not having a junior doctors strike is a good start, I believe, and that’s something that we’re not proposing to do. But he will know, of course, that the mid Wales collaborative is looking very carefully at this—at the delivery of health service—not just in his area, but other areas across the middle of our country, and that work is progressing very well. And that is a model that I believe, as it’s working successfully, can be adopted in other parts of Wales as well.

The emphasis that the Welsh Government has given on access to GPs is to be welcomed, of course. Does the First Minister agree that we could encourage primary care practices to collaborate with local transport providers to encourage this even further, particularly in more remote areas?

Yes, that makes sense. Of course, when there is a change in the health service, people are sometimes concerned because, perhaps, they can’t travel easily, particularly in rural areas, and it is extremely important that health boards and, of course, individual practices ensure that they are able to make provision and operate a transport system that means that people can use their services.