Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:24 pm on 5 October 2016.
Thank you for the question. Dermatology is a particular challenge across the UK, as you recognise. Recently, there was a retirement from this particular consultant post within the Hywel Dda area. The challenge is how they work with other parts of the service as well, in particular, the growing partnership with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board, which we are encouraging to understand how consultants work between different areas and across health board boundaries. I’m interested in people having access to a service. Actually, teledermatology is an important part of this as well. So, it’s not just about the consultant level, but it’s also about access at a primary care level as well. We are continuing to support both Hywel Dda and their partners in actually trying to understand what posts they need, at what level, including consultants, and where and how they can be best recruited to make sure that the right service is in the right place at the right time. But I would expect that, in the future, there will be dermatology consultants again within Pembrokeshire, within Hywel Dda, working within what you recognise is a very challenging recruitment market in this particular speciality.