Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:59 pm on 21 January 2025.
We've done some great work on getting better use out of the community pharmacists, because they're highly skilled individuals, and them dealing with the common ailments scheme seems to me just a much better use of their skills than simply dishing out somebody else's prescriptions.
I'm a little bit confused about the way in which GP practices work, because I've yet to come across a GP practice with the skill mix that I would expect. For example, which GP practice employs a diabetes nurse, given the prevalence of diabetes in our community? You would expect that there was plenty of work for such a person. Instead, we seem to have four or five highly skilled GPs all acting as consultants in primary care, with maybe one practice nurse. That just doesn't feel like the right balance. And then we have a separate service called community nursing, or community allied health professionals, and I just wondered if we don't need to think a little bit more creatively in the way we're delivering primary care services.
I was very interested at lunchtime to hear from Nia Boughton, who's a consultant nurse for primary care at Betsi Cadwaladr. She's done some fantastic work on getting somebody with endometriosis back into work—