Fresh calls for medical school in North Wales
A MEDICAL school for student doctors in North Wales could be a possibility after politicians claimed not having one was “a matter of social inequality.”
The criticism came from Arfon MP Hywel Williams and AM Siân Gwenllian who said that the lack of training for doctors here was having an impact on people’s health.
Welsh Government Health Secretary Vaughan Gething last week said there had been a 16% increase in the number of junior doctors choosing to come or stay in Wales to train.
Last year, the Welsh NHS launched a national and international recruitment drive, including a £20,000 Welsh Government cash incentive for junior doctors staying for a minimum of a year after training.
Siân Gwenllian AM said: “The severe shortage of GPs is still a major problem that is having a negative impact on the quality of healthcare for people here in North Wales.
“This is particularly true in some of our most rural and deprived areas.
“Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board spends significantly more on locum doctors than other health boards in Wales, which leads to additional financial pressure on the NHS here. We need to find a sustainable solution to improve recruitment in the long term. Evidence shows that doctors stay to live and work where they have been trained. It is clear therefore that it’s absolutely vital that we train doctors here in North Wales – and not just pay them to stay for only a year.”
Hywel Williams MP added: “We have been calling for a medical school in Bangor for a long time. It’s about time that the Government delivered on a promise that was made when Betsi Cadwaladr was first set up.
“The fact that Wales has two medi- cal schools, in Cardiff and Swansea – and none in the north – is yet another example of the social inequality faced by many of our communities.
“Added to the closure and withdrawal of public services from rural villages and small towns, as well as massive economic disparity, the lack of investment in medical training in North Wales is causing further inequality in terms of health and wellbeing.
“It also means that our young people aren’t given the equal option of training as medics within their own communities.
“We challenge the Welsh Government to start rectifying this fundamental inequality by investing in a medical school for North Wales.”
Dr Esyllt Llwyd, a GP at Waunfawr, Caernarfon, said: “As a GP in a rural and predominantly Welsh-speaking area I fully support the campaign for a Medical School in Bangor. It would be an honour to mentor bilingual students studying on the doorstep and to welcome them to the excellent health workforce here in North Wales.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are already looking at the case for a new medical school in North Wales within the context of wider education and training requirements for health professionals in North Wales.”