NHS underfunded and Assembly at fault
A RECENT report by the British Medical Association (BMA) has highlighted the fact that there are at least 74 GP practices that face an uncertain future for three possible reasons.
The first is that doctors are retiring or moving away because of the mounting workload, the second reason is that the support offered by local health boards varies across Wales, and the third reason is the total lack of comprehension by AMs of the need for a dedicated and qualified person to be in control of the health brief.
It is stated that 13 practices have already closed and a further 23 are being managed by health boards and not independently by medical partners. Unfortunately these health boards are not given the support they need by the Assembly, namely Vaughan Gething.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) would welcome the support of other professionals such as paramedics, nurses and physiotherapists but the necessary additional training for those positions is not available.
The response to this by Mr Gething, something called Train, Work, Live, sounds like an activity that would take place in a creche, which he has labelled “a fantastic success”, but apparently only in his opinion.
The real reason for this crisis of care is totally in the hands of Carwyn Jones and the Assembly, who have consistently underfunded the Welsh NHS. In 2015/16 the budget was the lowest of any part of the UK, which has adversely affected the training places in both medical and nursing schools, causing the present shortfall. It is not widely known but there are still 43 consultant posts not filled in Wales, leading to lack of
patient care.
Until adequate funding and a change in the understanding of how healthcare should be provided the situation can only get worse, and the Assembly, led by Carwyn Jones and assisted by Vaughan Gething, is totally responsible for the present situation.
It will need serious prioritisation of finances to achieve parity, which the Assembly appears to misapprehend on a daily basis and cannot come to terms with. K Clements Llangyfelach, Swansea