3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's efforts to recruit and train new staff for the health service in north Wales? (OAQ51084)[W]

The Welsh Government supports Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board to recruit and train staff in a number of ways, including record investment in nursing and allied health professional training places. Of course, the Member will know of the statement made before the summer about the way in which we wish to ensure that more training takes place in north Wales in order to ensure that there is more opportunity for people to come to train in north Wales as part of the Welsh training network.

According to figures published by the Welsh NHS Confederation in May this year, 141 medical posts in Betsi Cadwaladr health board were vacant, and this represents 37 per cent of all the medical positions that are vacant in the health service in Wales. We had a debate here last week as we discussed the Health and Social Care Committee report on medical recruitment. But despite all of the evidence supplied by the committee, the profession and the wider sector about the need to move towards establishing a medical school in north Wales, the Government is still refusing to do so on the basis of ambiguous statements on the cost and complexity of the process. The claim that the establishment of a medical school in north Wales is too costly is utter nonsense, given the millions that Betsi Cadwaladr spends on locums—almost £80 million over the past three years. First Minister, how many more patients in north Wales are you willing to see on waiting lists before you listen to the experts and pay attention to the evidence?

Well, I haven’t seen any evidence from experts saying that we have to have an independent medical school in the north. I have to tell you that—[Interruption.]

Carry on, First Minister.

Secondly, what we need to ensure is that the north links with the south to create a training system that is pan-Wales. But what does count, of course, is that those who require training see that the standard is high enough. We want to ensure that the standard is uniform across Wales, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We know, with regard to the training of GPs, for example, in the north-east and in the north west, that every place has been filled as regards the training places available. That is not true of the mid part of north Wales, but we want to ensure that more people come for training in north Wales, and we want to ensure that we move towards developing a system of medical education in north Wales over the ensuing years in order to ensure that the north is considered as a possible and potential training area. That is the aim of the Government. I don’t think that we disagree very much on that aim.

I’m really pleased that Sian Gwenllian has actually raised this again, and I would urge all north Wales AMs to make similar calls and to hold you to account, First Minister. This has been going on for years. Sian is quite right to mention there are 141 long-term vacancies. We have hospital wards in north Wales that have closed down for several months. We’ve met with the British Medical Association, we’ve met with other medical professionals, and there is a distinct need—it’s been proven—for a training centre somewhere in north Wales. The fact is, and the statistics prove this, that those who train in Cardiff move over into England. We cannot recruit. The Betsi board cannot recruit. Now, this is a board that’s in special measures. It’s got Welsh Government intervention, and yet it is failing at every level in terms of staff recruitment, in terms of keeping wards open. When are you, and when is your Cabinet Secretary, who consistently sits here during health questions shaking his head—? Well, I’m sorry, but you and the Cabinet Secretary—. We’re here to scrutinise you, and you are failing the patients of north Wales, you’re failing the health board, and you’re failing the actual staff who work there. We are in crisis in north Wales. We need a training centre in Bangor. The costs, as Sian has pointed out quite well, are there to be—. We cannot keep taking locum staff—

Can you bring this to a question?

Yes, okay, thank you. We want a long-term solution. You’re the one who has the levers to do this; please, can we have a training school in Bangor?

Well, I agree with her when she says she wants more training opportunities in the north. There’s no distance between us on that; it’s how it’s delivered. She’s asking, ‘Can it be an independent medical school?’ Well, we know that that’s not what is recommended. We know it would be difficult because big medical schools are in big cities with big hospitals, which have a far greater spread of specialities. What can be done, however, is to make sure that Bangor is tied in—the whole of the north is tied in—more completely with Cardiff and Swansea, and that we move to put in place a system of development over the next few years in order to provide better opportunities in the north. That’s the way to do it. It’s important to be able to link Bangor with the bigger hospitals to provide the training opportunities in the most comprehensive way. I think everybody in the medical profession understands that. I get the point that we need to provide more training opportunities in the north. I don’t dispute what the Member for Arfon has said. It’s a question now of not, ‘Do we do it?’ but ‘What is the most effective way of doing it?’, and we believe we’ve outlined that.