10. Plaid Cymru Debate: Access to Health Services

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:20 pm on 6 November 2019.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 5:20, 6 November 2019

And that's a good example of the sort of progress we need to make to deliver real access to primary care. And I remember meeting the Member together with his local constituent to discuss the issues. I do get to go out and about and to hear directly from staff and residents. For example, I recently returned to Bryntirion with Hefin David to meet the team in a managed practice to hear about their challenge that happened when GP partners retired. They now have an occupational therapist, a clinical pharmacist, a physiotherapist, health support workers and access to paramedics as part of that team, and they're now planning for the future and much more optimistic. The primary school in Ely I visited to see the Designed to Smile initiative, a significantly effective programme shown to have achieved a 13.4 per cent reduction in the levels of dental decay in five-year-olds since 2008. And, of course, in Taff's Well, that practice is able to operate a GP triage system, and routine appointments are being delivered in one to two days. And that's now across the cluster; they're using funding to help provide patient information and signpost to wider services. There are the points that other people have made about investing in wider primary care services, in Choose Pharmacy and optometry, for example. 

It was at Taff's Well, of course, that I announced the access standards for general medical services. I set out clearly what I and the people of Wales expect in providing real access. It's backed by £15 million of investment in the GP contract for access, including new digital telephony to help make it easier for patients to contact practices and access the services they need. 

I will take one more intervention then I will need to make more progress—