5. Will the First Minister make a statement on patient access to face-to-face consultations with clinicians? OQ56755

Primary care and out-patient departments across Wales have adopted new measures to protect staff and patients. They are providing a wide range of options for patients to access services through the use of digital technology and via face-to-face consultations where it is appropriate. 

Thank you very much for that, Minister, although that is not the experience of many of the people I represent in Blaenau Gwent. Many people are finding it increasingly difficult to access primary care at present. Now, we all recognise the issues created by the pandemic, but it cannot be acceptable that people are simply unable to access the medical care and support they need. Quite simply, Minister, far too many people are locked out of primary care.

Will the Welsh Government review the numbers of staff working in primary care across Wales and report back to the Senedd? Will the Welsh Government insist upon minimum standards for access to primary care, so that everyone, wherever they live, is able to see either a doctor or the clinician they require to have the treatment that they need?

Thank you. Alun Davies raises a very important point that I'm sure that we all recognise from our Member of the Senedd postbags. The Minister for Health and Social Services, along with the general practitioners committee Wales and health boards, is due to write, I think probably this week, to reiterate to general practitioners what exactly is expected from them in terms of access and how they should clearly communicate any changes to the public, because, of course, I think it's very important that people understand what services their GPs are providing. 

I think it's also right to say that GPs haven't closed their doors; they have worked all of the way through the pandemic and they're still open for business. But, of course, initially, the consultations are by telephone or video consultation. If they then deem it to be clinically appropriate, a face-to-face appointment will be given. But, I'm pleased that the Minister for Health and Social Services is doing that joint letter to GPs.

Minister, many people are waiting not just for treatment but for an appointment with a clinician to assess the extent of their condition. During the roll-out of the COVID vaccination programme, many retired clinicians were brought in to add further, much-needed capacity to help get people vaccinated. Has the Government explored whether retired clinicians in certain specialities could be brought in on a temporary basis to help get through the many assessments that are now needed? Thank you.

Thank you. We certainly have seen retired clinicians, and also volunteers and nurses, help us with the amazing vaccine roll-out programme here in Wales, and I’m sure it’s something that can be considered by health boards as we come out of the pandemic and look at that backlog, and clearly there is a backlog. There are lots of harms from COVID, not just the vaccine itself, and one of them is, unfortunately, the backlog of appointments that we will have in our NHS.

Thank you, Trefnydd. As you've already mentioned, pharmacists were the only primary care services to keep their doors open during this pandemic, and this meant a face-to-face consultation during the pandemic. Now, face-to-face consultation by community pharmacists has been normalised in the work of the health service. Shouldn't the new pharmacy contract currently being negotiated by the Welsh Government reflect this new situation in full?

I think our community pharmacy and our pharmacists are hugely important in NHS Wales and certainly when I was health Minister 10 years ago I really encouraged our pharmacists. I remember they undertook pilots for us in giving the flu vaccine out, for instance, and, I think, at the time, they were underutilised in the way that they certainly are not at the moment. I will certainly make sure that the health Minister is aware of the issues you raise as she looks at the contract at the current time.