6. What assessment has the First Minister made of the future challenges facing the health service in Wales? OQ60988

Thank you for the question. Last year, the chief scientific adviser for health published a report describing the challenges that our NHS in Wales is likely to face over the next 10 years. It is our belief that 'A Healthier Wales', our long-term 10-year plan for health and care, remains the appropriate response to those challenges. There will, of course, be funding and resourcing issues to deliver the health service and the care service that we believe the people of Wales deserve.

Thank you for that response, First Minister. I fear, though, that the Welsh Government's current approach to tackling the crisis in our NHS is far too short-sighted. Having spoken to many GP surgeries, it's clear that they are facing ever-increasing pressures as their workload increases, but this isn't matched with the resources they need. Indeed, many are having to step away from providing services that they don't get paid for but are extremely valued by patients, and this leads to patients entering long waiting lists for procedures once assessed—previously assessed quickly by their GPs. If improving the health service is genuinely a high priority and prevention is crucial to you, will you commit to reviewing GP contracts to ensure that they can provide the levels of care desperately needed by our citizens?

There's a couple of points to mention, and the first is a point for the Member, and, I think, for every Member in the Chamber—and I just want to make the point because you represent part of the Aneurin Bevan health board in Gwent—about the current outbreak of measles. I hope it will be a point of agreement that vaccination is a hugely effective Intervention, but it's one where we have seen a fall-off in vaccination rates; some of our children and adults are not vaccinated or are under-vaccinated. And, so, actually, whilst in Wales the good news is that we have a better rate of vaccination than England, we actually need to raise our vaccination levels in Wales. We previously saw last year an outbreak in Cardiff, and I hope that all Members across the Senedd, in whatever we say about the health service, can reiterate the need to ensure that vaccinations are undertaken and to support people to go to the catch-up services that are available. Because in the Member's region, there are people who have measles, which is a serious illness, who need not be in that position.

On your broader point about GP contract reform, of course, general practice helps undertake a range of vaccination services. I'm very keen to make sure that we take advantage of the different ways in which we can use the services right across primary care. So, as well as contract reform for our GPs, which is an ongoing process, more steps have been taken by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, as indeed I have undertaken, as indeed have previous health Ministers, a number of whom are available in this room. So, that contract reform will carry on. The purpose of it is to make sure that we properly reward and support our GPs and the wider primary healthcare team to deliver healthcare in a context that is constantly changing. People often think of accident and emergency departments as the front door of the health service; actually, the biggest front door is general practice, where the great Majority of contacts take place. That's also why, in addition to contract reform for GPs, we have progressively and successively looked at contract reform for pharmacy, community pharmacy, but also for high-street optometry services as well—opticians, in old money, depending on your vintage—in addition to what we were talking about earlier, and that's dental reform as well. There's a massive reform process, and each year we make more progress on a better use of our resources, a better use of the time of health and care professionals, and that is a road we must continue to travel down.

Good afternoon, Prif Weinidog. One of the really key things that you need when you're assessing a health service is data. And just to draw us back to the issue around dentistry, it is the case that the Welsh Government still does not have a centralised waiting list for those people who need an NHS dentist. So that, to me, says that you don't know what the need is across Wales. Some health boards do have a waiting list—Powys is one. In Powys, if you're looking for an NHS dentist, you phone up a helpline, they take your details and, as soon as a space becomes available for an NHS dentist, they let you know. Now that is a good system. Sadly, that is not the situation in Dwyfor Meirionnydd. And it's staggering that you had to learn that the situation in Dwyfor Meirionnydd is that nobody can access an NHS dentist. So, surely the way forward is for the Welsh Government to move forward to have a centralised waiting list that makes sure that you know what the demand is, you know what the need is and therefore you're able to respond. Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

Thank you for the question. 

I think there is much that is not just sensible in what the Member has said, but it's actually where this Welsh Government wants to get to as well. And I can tell her that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care regularly talks to me about the need to ensure that we have more investment in our digital and data systems within the NHS so that they're fit for purpose, they can help both the professional practitioners, but also the individual person, to take part in their own treatment and care, and to understand where those opportunities exist to do better.

We are looking at the system you referred to in Powys, the roll-out and the lessons learned, to use Powys as a first example for the roll-out of a national system. It is later than any of us would have wanted, but we are committed to doing so. And as you said, it's really important to understand where that unmet need is and then how we deploy resources to meet the needs of the person who needs health and care support, and to make sure that we have our staff and resource in the right position. So, I'm hopeful that, in the coming months, you'll get to see more about not just what the roll-out looks like, but then the lessons learned from that initial phase. Then, I would like to see greater pace injected into that roll-out across the country, as I know the Member would do too.