GPs to play crucial role in transforming Wales’ health service

Strengthening the role of GPs in Wales will be vital in improving patient healthcare and tackling NHS waiting lists.

Speaking at the Welsh Local Medical Committees Conference today (Saturday 8 March), Health Secretary Jeremy Miles will say the coming year must be about transforming how health services are delivered to keep care closer to home.

GPs will have a more prominent role in managing waiting lists to cut delays and improve patient flow through the health system, including expanding diagnostic testing in communities.

A new initiative to support GPs in providing continuity of care will start with identifying the most vulnerable patients who would benefit from seeing the same health professional at each appointment. This will help improve outcomes for people with chronic conditions and support keeping people well at home.

The Health Secretary will acknowledge that as more diagnostic and other procedures move out of hospitals and into community settings that resources will need to move too, and that health boards will be required to declare and increase primary care spending to support this change.

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said: 

It is vital we work together to address the pressures in our NHS by improving access patients have to the care they need, and the flow through our system.

The role of GPs is fundamental to being able to bring the system back into balance.

This is not about general medical services doing more and more but about designing a way of commissioning more services in a primary setting, in local communities but at a scale which is viable and sustainable.

GPs play a crucial role in their communities. I want to work with them to develop a primary and community care offer that values the skills and expertise of general practice and gives GPs the tools to thrive and delivers the care patients need closer to home.