Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

Call for overhaul of ‘unsustainable’ GP funding model

07 Nov 2024 4 minute read
Labour MS Carolyn Thomas

Chris HainesICNN Senedd reporter

Senedd members added their voices to a chorus of calls for fair funding for GPs after more than 21,000 people across Wales signed a petition.

Carolyn Thomas led a debate on the petition submitted by the British Medical Association (BMA) as part of the professional body’s “Save our Surgeries” campaign.

The Labour politician, who chairs the petitions committee, attended a meeting with GPs and told the Senedd their message was clear: the current funding model is unsustainable.

She said: “Over the last two decades, while the number of face-to-face appointments, digital contacts and phone calls has risen, the complexity of the work has been transformed, expenses have risen, and the cost of premises has leapt up.

“Yet the share of the health budget spent on GP services has shrunk..”

‘Crumbling’

Ms Thomas, who represents North Wales added: “In some areas, recruitment and retention is the main worry but in others it’s the crumbling fabric of buildings. In others, it is the rapidly ageing population or a growing workload that isn’t matched by an equivalent rise in capacity.

“But underlying all of these is money to pay for the services that we all want to see.”

Sam Rowlands, the Conservatives’ shadow health secretary, said 8% of NHS Wales funding goes to GPs which is lower than levels from 2005/6.

Mr Rowlands pointed out that more than 100 surgeries have closed in the past 12 years.

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan criticised “huge underinvestment” over the past decade, telling the Senedd that Wales remains 500 GPs short of the OECD average.

She said: “There were 372 GP services in Wales at the end of June, which is 14 fewer than when the BMA launched the ‘Save Our Surgeries’ campaign. It is clear, therefore, that these consistent warnings about a shortage of provision … have fallen on deaf ears.”

‘Madness’

Ms Fychan, who represents South Wales Central, raised concerns about big companies, often located outside Wales, stepping into the market for GP services.

She said: “In the Aneurin Bevan area, eHarleyStreet is a clear example of this. This continues with the damaging trend of profits being taken out of the health system into private pockets, and also makes the provision vulnerable.”

Her Plaid Cymru colleague Luke Fletcher raised a BMA survey that found nearly four out of five locum GPs cannot find work despite patient waiting times hitting record highs.

He said: “That’s in England but here in Wales the symptoms of the same crisis have been visible for a while, yet the data doesn’t seem to be available….

“Anecdotally, I’ve been told of locums in Wales looking to other fields. Some are considering jobs in retail and driving taxis. At a time when we’re crying out for GPs and we all accept that there’s a shortage of GPs – this situation is madness.”

‘Outdated’

Warning services are in chaos, the Conservatives’ Laura Anne Jones raised concerns about a survey showing 37% of Welsh GPs may leave the profession within five years.

Julie Morgan said she has heard the same story from surgeries in her constituency: “They’re struggling to maintain safe levels of service and worried about being able to continue.”

The former minister told the Senedd that Cardiff North is in the bottom 1% of funded practices in the UK due to the “outdated” Carr-Hill formula used to calculate funding.

Jenny Rathbone, a fellow Labour backbencher, highlighted the Deep End Cymru project, which aims to support 100 practices in the most deprived areas.

Jane Dodds, the Liberal Democrats’ leader in Wales, raised concerns about staff welfare and reiterated calls for a premium to recognise the significant challenges for GPs in rural areas.

‘Imbalance’

Responding to the debate on November 6, Jeremy Miles said surgeries in Wales see an astonishing number of patients with around 1.5 million every month.

Wales’ health secretary stressed: “I want to reassure GPs that we have heard the messages about the huge demands and the pressure on staff welfare.”

Mr Miles said ministers have chosen to commit £1bn over this Senedd term to clear the backlog and reduce waiting times following the pandemic.

He told the Senedd: “By necessity, this means that a larger proportion of funding has gone to secondary care. Redressing this imbalance will be a priority for future funding decisions.

“And we are committed to the principle of providing more care closer to home.”


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Beau Brummie
Beau Brummie
17 days ago

Kamikaze post coming up … This article about GP services in Wales being unsustainable, and in inexorable decline, has attracted, so far, zero comments. It is a core subject of interest to every citizen in Wales. The article is sandwiched between two articles, both openly lamenting the election of Trump, which have attracted 10 and 19 responses as I write. Reform was the only party at the recent election to honestly say to voters that a European mixed economy / private + social insurance model wd generate the necessary funds to regenerate the service. Yet – the Q is ignored… Read more »

Why vote
Why vote
16 days ago

The senedd could always reverse the expansion of MSs in wales and spend the extra millions on this, or stay on this power trip of forcing the electorate to do their bidding, as of course labour know best they are on power in wales, not serving the people. IE hydrogen plant, wind farms, pythons, all pushed trough for foreign companies despite opposition from from local government and local communities. Wake up Wales we are controlled by the good old fashioned pit masters of yesteryear.

Old Curmudgeon
Old Curmudgeon
16 days ago

When the Blair government came up with the idea of turning Gp practices into private businesses this situation became inevitable. Labour caused this mess but they don’t seem prepared to accept responsibility. And this is the same party that spout a load of waffle about finding a solution. They’ve had time enough to deal with the situation and yet in Wales we keep voting for them so I guess we’re only getting what we asked for. I get the feeling that in wales we are in the dangerous situation of the Senedd having powers but the electorate don’t realise what… Read more »

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.