Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 21 June 2022.
Thank you, First Minister. It's actually GP surgeries that I'm going to be going in on today rather than dentistry. Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of meeting the patient participation group of the Argyle Medical Group surgery—a collection of patients who are there to influence and advise both the staff and the wider patient community on the challenges and opportunities facing the surgery. As I've mentioned in this Siambr before, the surgery serves over 22,000 patients while employing only six registered GPs, but each one of those staff members goes above and beyond in their care for their patients. Whilst recruitment is always a welcome prospect, with possible positive news on the horizon on that front, Argyle and other rural GP surgeries will attest to the difficulties in recruiting medical practitioners to rural surgeries. Therefore, can the First Minister outline what he and his Government are doing to support rural surgeries in the recruitment and retention of GPs and other healthcare professionals, such as physiotherapists, nurse practitioners and pharmacists? And in recruiting those healthcare professionals, what work is the Welsh Government doing to educate patients that they don't always have to be seen by a GP to get fast and effective treatment? Diolch.