8. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve access to GPs in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area? OQ58266

The Welsh Government’s policy is to improve access to primary care services by using, to the full, the talents and capabilities of all members of the clinical team. In this way, the time of GPs can be released to respond to the needs of more complex cases.

Thank you, First Minister. Data from StatsWales shows that the number of patients registered with GPs across the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is steadily increasing, from 606,000 patients in 2016 to over 619,500 in January 2022. At the same time, a quarter of all GPs working in Wales are aged over 60 and therefore nearing retirement. This is the highest percentage of any country in the United Kingdom. If this trend continues, the stress and pressures on general practice can only increase. Only this morning, it's been reported that St Brides medical practice, a GP surgery with nearly 7,000 patients, is set to close before the end of the week. A lead GP at the practice revealed on social media that she was resigning her contract as she was unable to recruit enough people—salaried GPs and GP partners—to safely run the practice. So, First Minister, what action are you going to be taking to increase the number of GPs qualifying each year in Wales from the current figure of 160, to ensure my region of south-east Wales has enough GPs to meet increasing demand? Thank you. 

The St Brides practice gave notice a considerable time before this week, and the neighbouring GP practices, accepting patients who previously would have been looked after by St Brides, have all confirmed that they have the capacity and the workforce to deliver care safely to the agreed cohort of patients. We have 183 GPs in training in Wales this year, not 160, and the number has been healthy, at that level or higher, in each of the last three years. 

I know that the Member will have welcomed the announcement yesterday by the Welsh Government of £27 million to be invested in the Newport East health and well-being centre. Of course, it is a project that has been powerfully supported by John Griffiths as the local Member. That practice will be based in Ringland. It will bring together GP practices. It will have the Ringland dental surgery there under the same roof. It will have local authority services available to patients as part of that well-being development, and it seems to me to be a very practical and contemporary example of the way in which the Welsh Government goes on investing in those services in the Member's own region. 

Thank you, First Minister.