Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:04 pm on 7 May 2019.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It was interesting to hear a range of views today about how we do want to see improvement in health and care services here in Wales. And of course much of that is about the stability of general practice at the heart, as I set out in my opening.
I'm delighted to reconfirm that 96 per cent of GP training places in Wales were filled in the first round. That's in direct contrast to England, where 80 per cent of places were filled. So, much, much better in comparison, our fill rate here. With two rounds to go, I've also agreed to provide further flexibility to fill more places than planned to take advantage of the capacity that we do have in our system. And, as I've previously announced, Health Education and Improvement Wales are reviewing the future need and numbers for GP training places in Wales. So, we may have a permanent expansion of GP training places, informed by evidence.
I will turn to some of the comments that Darren Millar made, and I'm happy to reconfirm that, on indemnity, he was wholly wrong. His praise of England's indemnity deal does not stand up to scrutiny, and I look forward to us reaching a conclusion on the general medical services contract for GPs. Those negotiations continue in good faith between partners, and I believe there is a better offer on the table here in Wales than the one accepted in England. All partners in that negotiation—the NHS, the Welsh Government and GPC Wales—are keen to conclude negotiations in the near future, so that GPs themselves can see the details, but crucially, that will help us to unlock further investment in local healthcare.
And in terms of some of the more rounded comments made in the debate, you learn something new every day, and Dai Lloyd's revelation that he worked in general practice for over 30 years was new to me. [Laughter.] But on the broader point made in other contributions about the wider team in local healthcare, I remember as a child going to the general practice and the doctor did virtually everything, from taking blood to a whole range of minor things that, today, you should not expect to see GPs themselves do. And that's the point: to see that progress continue, but continue more consistently and at a greater pace. And I was really pleased to hear Dai Lloyd recognise that investments are being made in the local healthcare estate, and it's a real issue for the quality of care, but also to make sure that people want to carry on having a career in local healthcare as well.
Of course, on social care, Dai Lloyd knows that I'm chairing the inter-ministerial group on paying for care. But one of the points that Dai, Dawn, Hefin and Alun made was about having that broader team of people—in particular, Dawn Bowden's point about the fact that we do need to see more pace in change. And that is what I'm determined to continue injecting. Not just that we agree there's a better way of running the service, but to make sure it actually happens, so people see that the future isn't somewhere else in Wales, but it's a service that they're receiving that's changed and for the better, because I, too, share the very real frustration as to how quickly we're managing to change the health service.
Part of that is us, actually, because as local politicians, we're always under pressure to support the case to keep what we have, rather than see what we could and should have if we really had best practice within and for our local communities. And that often means improving what we have and changing it. And that's the point that Alun Davies made as well, because empowered and informed people tend to make different choices, and that would drive our services in a different direction.