Written question WQ95916
- 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
What action is the Welsh Government taking to end the 8am scramble for GP appointments?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
We are committed to improving access to GP care. We launched the Access Commitment in 2022, which stated that it is no longer acceptable for all appointments for the day to be released at 8am. This further strengthened existing access standards.
The GP contract in 2023 included a requirement that people are able to request a non-urgent consultation through a digital method of access between 8am and 6.30pm each working day.
The recent reforms in England replicate changes already made in Wales.
In January, I announced the conclusion of GMS contract negotiations for 2024-25. Alongside the £52.1m investment in GP services to support general practice sustainability, an immediate review to strengthen compliance with the access standards around the 8am bottleneck and pre-bookable appointments is underway.