Pics taken by Jon Bevan, Thursday November 6 - need pic of GP Wayne Lewis + general Blaenvon Resource Centre shot (internal or external)

STANDFIRST

IMPROVING access to, and the quality of, primary care is the aim of a new four-year plan from the Welsh Government. It was launched at Blaenavon’s new Resource Centre, a blueprint for delivery of the plan’s aims, not least, care closer to home.

AMID all the political venom currently enveloping the NHS, there is one thing that all parties should be able to agree on - that it is currently a system that is too hospital-dependent.

And that is not a new view. It is one that has been acknowledged for a good number of years now, as talk has shifted to the idea of focusing more resources in primary care, into healthcare closer to the communities the NHS serves.

There remains concern that not enough is being done to drive a switch to more primary care-based services for patients, and it is an issue that has raised its head during the long gestation of Gwent’s Clinical Futures programme for modernising the area’s health services.

Much of the debate around this has been about the proposed Specialist and Critical Care Centre to be built near Cwmbran, a hospital that will treat Gwent’s sickest patients.

But there needs also to be a redistribution of services into primary care to support this, not least because, with this and other hospital developments that have already taken place under Clinical Futures, beds numbers will have been cut by several hundreds since 2000.

The Welsh Government’s primary care plan is based on the principle known as prudent healthcare, which proposes to tackle the root causes of ill health, prevent people from being admitted to hospital unnecessarily, and speeding up the discharge of patients - backed with support - when admissions are necessary. It also involves supporting people with long term illnesses to manage their own health at home.

Improving access to GPs and other primary care staff, such as specialist nurses, is key to the plan, as is involving others such as pharmacists, dentists, optometrists and podiatrists.

The plan has a strong emphasis too, on developing a skilled workforce, both in terms of boosting numbers and widening skills.

A £10 million primary care plan fund has also been announced, to investment in these aims.

Deputy health minister Vaughan Gething, launching the plan at Blaenavon’s new £4.5m Resource Centre, said he wants to ensure that primary care services are the “engine room” of the NHS in Wales.

And while the plan will seek to boost the services available in Wales’ existing GP surgeries, health clinics and other primary care facilities, a centre such as that now available to patients in Blaenavon is an example of a facility that will do much to deliver the plan’s aims.

The Resource Centre - part of a ‘campus’ of facilities that also includes a school and leisure facilities - houses a GP surgery, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, a range of therapies, community nursing and health visiting, and screening services. There is even a space for Gwent Police to hold police ‘surgeries’ for members of the public to discuss law and order issues.

Having a range of services under one roof provides the opportunity for closer working relationships between services that will be key to the success of the Wales primary care plan.

The Welsh Government is emphasising the need for the likes of social services, housing, environment, leisure, transport, and programmes such Communities First and Flying Start, and the independent and voluntary sectors, as well as health services, to provide a framework for a healthier future, and that will require closer collaboration all round.

Investment in primary care as the gatekeeper of health services, which provides as much as 90 per cent of patient care, is however, fundamental to the success of the plan.

Dr Wayne Lewis, senior partner at the Carregwen Surgery that has recently moved into the Resource Centre, says it is a long overdue development that is an improvement for patients and staff.

“It is long overdue, and a big step up from our previous surgery,” he said.

“We have larger rooms, better access for patients, and it will enable us to do more for those patients, and it is good to have other services here too.

“We are just about to start training GP registrars (qualified doctors undergoing the training required to become fully-fledged GPs).

“GPs can do more, and more cheaply, especially in a facility like this, but investment is the key.”