4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the demand on primary care services? OAQ(5)0213(FM)

We have seen an increase in demand on primary care services. I will be launching a national and international marketing campaign to encourage more general practitioners to work in Wales. Over £42 million has been given to health boards to support the delivery of our plans.

Thank you very much for that response, First Minister. Many of us attended a BMA meeting here last week where they launched ‘Urgent prescription: A survey of general practice in 2016’. That painted a picture of the huge pressures on GPs, bearing in mind that a GP would see some 50 patients per day on average, and that includes very complex problems, because the simple problems have already been separated out these days, and it’s only the more serious issues that the GP addresses. Of course, it’s only those situations where a GP is required, and that’s why the pressures are so huge. That’s why the pressure is so huge—there are 50 complex patients who can only be seen by a GP. So, what can you do to reduce these huge pressures on GPs now?

Well, the BMA of course is part of the work that we’re undertaking. They’re not outwith that. Of course, they represent their Members, I understand that, but we have been working with them to ensure that there is a reduction in the pressures on GPs. One example is the collaborative in mid Wales, which is working hard to ensure that services are available for people in mid Wales, and is considering new ways of working. Ultimately, of course, we wish to see more GPs being trained in Wales and working in Wales, and that is why the campaign will be launched in two days’ time.

It is important that we provide primary care facilities that are fit for purpose and that meet demand. Cwm Taf university health board and RCT council are collaborating to develop a new health centre in Mountain Ash that will do exactly this. How is the Welsh Government working with partners to improve primary care facilities across Wales?

I know the health board has established a project board to develop a proposal for the new primary care facility in Mountain Ash, and we look to work with all the health boards to deliver those kinds of facilities. I’ve seen them being opened all across Wales—modern facilities where practices can keep their identities within those buildings, but, nevertheless, have access to support services and modern facilities. We will keep on working with GPs and with health boards to deliver more up-to-date, modern health centres in the future.

Keeping people out of hospital is placing demand on primary care services that are already stretched. People in need of social care are more likely to call on primary and, probably, reablement care than the general population. Social care isn’t all about the GP, though, and I’m wondering how the Welsh Government is securing the support of non-medical intervention to support the confidence and emotional well-being of people in social care, and how you then measure the drop in demand on primary care services, especially primary mental health care services.

We know how important it is to have support services for people when they’re outside hospital. That means ensuring that we don’t cut spending in social services, as has happened, of course, over the border. In Wales, spending on health and social services is 7 per cent higher per head than it is in England, because you cannot divorce the two. You cannot raid social services budgets in order to pay for health; the two of them run together. That’s why we’ve protected budgets in Wales and will continue to do so.

First Minister, Wales has a growing and ageing population that is putting increased pressures on primary care services in Wales. As those of us who signed the urgent prescription for general practice can attest, workload pressures upon GPs are undermining the safety of patient care. Will the Welsh Government support the BMA request for local health boards to stop the practice of requiring GPs to deliver tests organised in other parts of the NHS and for the introduction of a national standard for a minimum number of patients a GP can be expected to deal with during a working day?

I have to say to the Member it is normally the case, where GPs deliver tests on behalf of other parts of the health service, that they are paid to do it. They don’t do it for nothing, and, as a result of that, it’s not the case, therefore, that they find that their time is not compensated in that regard. I have to say, for example, on top of what I’ve just said, that this year, we’ve seen the recruitment of over 400 additional staff across Wales, including clinical pharmacists, physios and care co-ordinators, and they help and support GPs as part of a GP-led multiprofessional approach. When we look at Prestatyn, for example, we see a great example there of a service that’s much improved for people, taken over by the health board, where a number of practitioners are available for people and they can be diverted to the right practitioner when they arrive at the premises. That is a good model that we need to investigate for the rest of Wales.