Part of 3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 3:14 pm on 25 January 2017.
I’m not at all worried about whether people are directly employed by the health board or in independent practice. The independent contractor model accounts for about 95 per cent of all general practitioners within the country. I’m interested in seeing the quality of that care improve. On what I said earlier about clusters, it’s really encouraging that GPs are taking more ownership of their future with the whole primary care team. And it’s for them to determine whether they think there are new and additional models—they can still maintain independent contractor status—that will deliver the quality of care and the spread and the reach of care that we want to see, whether that’s the federated model in Bridgend, whether that’s a community interest company such as Red Kite in Brecon, or whether that’s different sorts of models that exist. We’re understanding those through listening and working with the profession. That’s why the ministerial taskforce is really important. It isn’t just about a recruitment campaign; it is about understanding what we can do to enable and empower general practice to make an even bigger difference, to make their jobs even more interesting—and the role of allied health professionals and others around it. Crucially, what this Government can do is to properly listen. That’s why the choice I made on relaxing the quality and outcomes framework to the end of March has been welcomed by GPs. Again, GPs this morning, when I was with Huw Irranca, made a particular point of saying ‘thank you’ for that decision. It’s been a real help to them. It shows that, when this Government listens, it makes a difference to GPs now, and that sort of relationship I believe will be crucial to attracting more GPs to come here to train, work and live in the future.