GP practices are the frontline of our NHS – the point of entry when it comes to accessing health services. Over 90% of total patient contacts with the NHS in Wales are first made via primary health services.
But over the past decade, while money has been put into our hospitals, it has been taken out of our GP surgeries. And this has contributed to a decline in the number of GPs working in Wales.
We will take immediate steps to reverse these trends, with the aim of restoring Wales to the OECD average of 1.08 GPs per 1,000 people, and making it easier and quicker for everyone to see a GP when they need one.
We will:
- Recruit up to 100 new salaried GPs, and improve access via digital and telehealth services, as part of our plan to tackle waiting lists.
- Mandate every health board to set out a plan for restoring funding for GP services.
- Review and reform the funding model for GP services, to ensure fair and consistent funding across all practices, and establish a capital grant fund to support GP surgeries with increasing overheads and running costs.
- Make GP services more sustainable through promoting federalisation of GP practices and reducing bureaucracy, and further relieve pressures by supporting access to primary health services through community pharmacies.