Access to Primary Care

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 1 December 2021.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 2:42, 1 December 2021

Thanks very much. Well, obviously, mental health is an issue that my colleague, Lynne Neagle, leads on, and I know that you'll be aware of her incredible commitment to this cause over many, many years. It's absolutely clear that the number of people who are contacting their GPs for mental health support has increased significantly, and there are lots of ways for us to deal with this. I think one of the key things, though, is that we need to not overmedicalise mental health issues if they are not medical. So, social prescribing is something that we're very keen to encourage, but the early help in our community, I know, is exactly the kind of route that Lynne Neagle is very keen for us to focus on. 

When it comes to specific cases, nurses in our communities, I think what's more likely to happen is that we'll start that on a kind of cluster basis, and I think that's probably the route, so that we know that, at least in a particular area, there will be access. But, as I say, I think we absolutely need to get to the point where we understand that mental health issues are not all medical. Sometimes they're about social issues, they're about relationship issues; they are not medical issues. And we need to make sure that we don't overmedicalise mental health issues if it's unnecessary to do so.