Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 20 October 2021.
Diolch yn fawr. Moving on to something that I've got an interest in: in recent months, Wales has welcomed refugees, following the sudden fall of the Afghanistan Government. It's hard to imagine the terror that they felt when fleeing their homes, and it's only right that Wales has played its part in proving to be a safe haven for some of these families. Over the last 20 years, WARD or the Wales Asylum Seeking and Refugee Doctors scheme has been a big success in supporting people to restart their professional lives here in Wales. They have done this by removing the barriers to gaining General Medical Council registration that is required to practice in the UK. The scheme has also saved a lot of money, since training new doctors costs around £230,000, whereas the WARD process costs around £30,000 for each doctor completing the scheme. Can this Welsh Government commit to helping more refugees and asylum seeking professionals to restart their careers by looking to expand the remit of the original WARD scheme to include other professionals, and help our NHS?