Written question WQ93344
- Asked by
- Laura Anne JonesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 10 days
Question
What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure disabled people receive timely diagnosis from their doctors of their disability?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The process of diagnosis can be varied and complicated, it will be different for person to person dependent on symptoms at presentation. A GP will order appropriate tests to undertake an evaluation of a patients’ symptoms using clinical knowledge and following national and professional guidance. A GP may also refer a patient to a specialist for a more detailed evaluation.
To support this the Welsh Government continue to provide record levels of investment into primary care, training more healthcare professionals and improving services. The number of GPs in Wales is broadly stable and we have record numbers of other healthcare professionals working in multi-disciplinary teams. The GP speciality training programme has been significantly expanded over the past few years, supported by the Train Work Live marketing campaign and associated financial incentives scheme. The current recruitment target of 160 new GP trainees each year is consistently being achieved. A total of 199 new GP trainees were recruited in 2023.
The funding agreed in the Education and Training Plan for 2024/25 includes £37.603m to support core GP training numbers.