TRAINING places for GPs in Wales are set to be increased by almost 18 per cent - starting this autumn - as part of plans to ensure the workforce is sufficient to help shift the emphasis towards patient care closer to, and at, home.
Currently, what is known as the target fill rate for GP training places is 136, but this will increase to 160 and may be increased further in the future.
The current target fill rate is been exceeded this year, with 155 training places taken up, and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), which oversees health training and careers, will review training place numbers they are sufficient.
The Welsh Government's 10-year health strategy A Healthier Wales has a strong emphasis on care closer to home and reducing hospital admissions, and GPs have a key role in delivering these aims.
New cohorts of GPs are needed in Wales too, if ensure there is enough new blood to help fill posts that will be vacated as existing GPs retire. An ageing GP workforce is a Wales-wide issue that needs to be addressed, and this is more pressing in some areas - such as the Gwent Valleys - than in others.
READ MORE:
- Newport man in critical but stable condition after 'jumping from moving van' on the A470
- Consultants signed up to make congested and 'dangerous' town more pedestrian friendly
Health minister Vaughan Gething said "excellent progress" has been made through the Welsh Government's ongoing Train, Work, Live campaign, which seeks to attract GP trainees to Wales.
"In two of the last three years we have over-filled our target number of training places, so now is good time to look at increasing the target," he said.
"I have asked HEIW to review our GP training places to ensure we have the skilled workforce we need to meet our long term ambitions for the NHS, set out in A Healthier Wales.
"I want to increase the number of places to 160 in time for the next round of recruitment in 2019 and I hope we can move towards an even higher target in the near future.
"I have also agreed that where there are further opportunities to take on more GP trainees than the 160, HEIW can proceed if there is capacity to do so.”
HEIW medical director Professor Push Mangat, said the Welsh Government's agreement fund an increase GP training numbers in Wales "will have a positive impact on local healthcare services and the health and wellbeing of residents".
The Train, Work, Live campaign includes two financial incentives schemes for trainee GPs. One offers a £20,000 incentive to those filling posts in areas where uptake is traditionally low. The other offers a one-off payment for all trainees to cover the cost of one sitting of their final examinations.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here