Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 3:04 pm on 9 November 2016.
Thank you for the point, and it’s one that is well understood. Part of the work we’re doing on the ministerial group that I’ve convened and I’m chairing is to look at both the points about new entrants into the profession as well as supporting the people currently in it. So, this isn’t a point about ignoring people who are currently working within primary care. So, the incentives were specific to deal with and address areas of need. We’re listening to our partners around the table, and it’s all partners—a range of health professionals, including, of course, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners—to think about how we better support our current practices. There’s something about the cluster money that is already there, and making sure it gets out to practices so they can use it and determine how they want to use it with their partners within primary care. There’s also something about looking again at the sustainability framework and understanding what we need to do to actually make sure that more practices engage in that. Because we have found that not every practice that is facing a challenge is prepared to go through that process where extra help can be provided. I think there’s something about the level of trust and information sharing to allow that support to be provided. So, there’s more work for us to do, and it’s actually an opportune time to be talking about this because, of course, we’re starting negotiations with the BMA on the future of the GMS contract here in Wales. So, plenty of opportunity, both in the contract negotiation, but also with the work that we are doing to try and improve the numbers of people, but also the range of people within the primary care workforce.