8. Will the First Minister provide an update on funding for GP services in Wales? OQ61352

In February, the Welsh Government invested £20 million in general practitioner services, alongside further investment last year in wider primary care services to support GPs and their teams. Funding for 2024-25 will be announced following the established negotiation process with GP representatives.

Thank you for your response, First Minister. And, Llywydd, considering the challenges to general practice sustainability that we're seeing following surgery closures—18 per cent of GPs have closed in Wales in the past decade alone; we've had a significant number of contract hand-backs; we're seeing an increase in managed practices, and external businesses taking over Welsh GP practices—will the First Minister outline his preferred model for general practice? And will he also give assurances to GPs that planned changes to things like central procurement of the flu vaccine will not damage the funding of already stretched GP services?

Yes, I can give you that assurance. I think there are—. On your three broader points—. On flu delivery we can give you that assurance. We know that we need to have a model that doesn't undermine what general practice does and which makes sure that, for some of us, where we can get our vaccine in a different way, that's possible too. Almost every Senedd Member gets an invite to attend an event with community pharmacies. So, it's about how we support the wider primary care team without undermining general practice, which is what we're looking to do. It's seeing general practice at the heart of that primary care team, and recognising the expert role that GPs have within that. 

Now, in terms of the future organisation, it's important to recognise that the numbers of practices are changing, often because people are merging practices to have a larger and more robust service—a larger and more robust model for the doctors themselves. And, actually, I come back to the analogy of my past life as a lawyer, when I had a job that people understood and respected—lots of lawyers work for other lawyers. The partners in a practice employ other lawyers to do a job. You don't expect to see two or three lawyers all working together in a partnership; you expect to see a robust organisation that can do everything that partnership needs to.

Lots of GPs are moving to a model where there are a smaller number of partners over a larger and more robust area that employ other doctors. Some of those people go on to be partners. Some doctors don't want to be in a partnership and want to be a salaried member in a partnership itself. Now, that is partly because of change. Not every person now wants to say they will work in a single community for their whole working life. The model of the creation of the national health service is rather different now, as people feel differently about how they work and where they want to work. It's why the investment in the future of GP training is so important. Last year we trained 170 GPs. When I became the Cabinet Secretary for health, as it then was, we did not have the ability to recruit and retain that many GPs in training places. It's a long-term success story, our Train, Work, Live programme, and it will be added to by the opening of the medical school in Bangor. And that's really important for the future of general practice—to see the light at the end of the tunnel, with more trainees every year, more doctors being trained in Wales. And the future will be a mixed model—a mixed model of some GP partnerships in the traditional way and other forms of practice as well. The key point here is: how do we have an environment that is attractive to doctors who want to work in it and the wider primary care team; how do we ensure good access to high-quality care for each of us and the people we are privileged to represent? 

I thank the First Minister.