3. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's work to increase access to primary care services in south-east Wales? OQ58184

Access to primary care services has changed dramatically across Wales over the past two years. Services have had to adapt to ensure patients can access primary care in a safe and effective manner. Digital technology has helped to deliver these improvements.

Minister, in the Severnside area of my constituency of Newport East, we've seen a great deal of growth in housing over recent years, in the Magor, Rogiet, Undy and Caldicot areas and around, but we haven't seen the sort of growth in primary care services that would reflect that increased population. And many people in those areas now feel that they're not sufficiently served by GPs and primary care generally, and they would like to see an increase in that capacity. So, Minister, could you tell me how you're working with health boards and surgeries to respond to those situations, where we have these growing populations, and concerns that primary care capacity is not keeping pace with those developments?

Well, we're very aware that, when we're seeing these developments happen, we do need to consider that additional infrastructure, including schools and all of those other things that go with them, and we're very aware of the increase in the population in particular in the area that you refer to, John. And that's why I have recently given approval for £28 million of funding, which has been confirmed, in order to develop the Newport east health and well-being centre. The construction of that facility will start this summer, and that will be on the adjacent site to the existing Ringland Health Centre. That facility is going to include a range of clinical services, which will be provided by Aneurin Bevan health board, including general practitioner, community pharmacists, general dental practice services, together with social care and third sector provision, exactly the kind of model that we're really interested in rolling out, and Newport is going to be one of the first to see that happening. So, I'm very pleased to see that. What we're keen to see also, and that's the reason why we want to develop these hubs, is that integrated and preventative service that is tailored to meet the specific needs of that community and to address those significant issues of health inequalities. 

Minister, I share John Griffiths's concerns—primary services aren't keeping up with the housing developments in Newport and across my region of South Wales East. Constituents in my region are rightly concerned about the level of access, particularly to dental services. We lost 150 dental practices in two years from 2019 to 2021. In my own region of South Wales East, we're seeing a concerning picture where numerous constituents are now reporting waiting times of over a year for a check-up, if they are even able to join an NHS practice. I welcome your comments on the Newport hub, but this is a serious concern for many people across my region and Wales. Minister, the situation has deteriorated so badly, how do you plan on increasing the number of NHS dental practices and retain those NHS dentists in Wales? Thank you.

Thanks very much. First of all, I think it's really important that people note that about 20,000 people are treated in terms of dentistry each week in Wales, and the number of dentists has risen in 2018 and 2019 above 1,500. Of course, one of the issues we've had is that the aerosol generating capacity that happens was very dangerous during COVID, and that's where we saw a massive reduction in the ability of patients to get access. Now, I'm very pleased that we've at last seen a de-escalation of the IPC advice in relation to dental practices, and so they will now make their own risk assessment and hopefully they will schedule different people according to the respiratory risks and perhaps put them together at the end of the day. The other issue that we've really focused on is contract reform. In the past, as you know, we've paid according to the units of dental activity. That has completely changed now, and I'm really pleased that 78 per cent of NHS dentists have now moved onto the new contract. What that will mean is that we will see them taking on board new NHS patients, and there will be a requirement to reduce the routine and repetitive work that has been done in the past that didn't necessarily move things on for people.