Written question WQ95001
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
How is the Welsh Government working to stimulate greater recruitment for roles in primary care in Wales?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
In May 2024 the Strategic Workforce Plan for Primary Care and the Strategic Programme for Primary Care (SPPC) was launched by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) following an extensive consultation process. The plan focuses on ensuring primary care is attractive, with flexibility and choice built in and with access to high-quality education and training.
The plan’s 26 actions will be delivered over a five-year period. Key actions on attraction and recruitment have been developed to promote careers in primary care, to increase opportunities for different models in primary care and to review the incentive schemes to attract and recruit people. This includes the financial incentives to attract GP trainees to specialist training schemes in North, Mid and West Wales provided since 2017.
Our Train Work Live campaign has worked to increase the take up of GP training places in Wales.
The GP specialty training programme has been expanded over the past three years and, since the launch of Train Work Live, there has been a significant increase in the fill rate for GP training. 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.