New report backs calls for North Wales medical school
Calls for a new medical school in North Wales to tackle the shortage of doctors have been echoed in the pages of a new report.
The Tackling the Crisis document argues the case for a third Welsh medical school to be located in Bangor – the others are at Cardiff and Swansea.
According to the study the training and recruitment of medical staff is at crisis point in many parts of Wales, particularly in rural and north Wales.
Siân Gwenllian AM commissioned the research that was carried out by the Welsh current affairs magazine, Golwg.
It points out that the number of students from Wales applying to study medicine has fallen by 15% in five years – a steeper drop than in the rest of the UK – and north and west Wales have fewer GPs per 10,000 population than the rest of the country.
In 2015–16, 50% of consultant physician posts in north Wales were unfilled and in February this year it was revealed that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board had spent £21m on agency medical staff in 11 months.
Ms Gwenllian said: “There is an urgent need for a third medical school in Wales to meet the growing needs of communities across the country, especially here in north Wales and other rural areas.
“With many doctors reaching retirement age and not enough young people being trained here, health care services are already facing huge challenges. Across the world, governments are responding to similar shortages by increasing training opportunities.
“In rural areas, which face very similar problems to Wales, new training institutions are being founded. These medical schools are being established in the rural areas themselves – adapting existing structures simply does not work.
“There is an opportunity to establish a medical school in north west Wales, building on the resources of Bangor University’s School of Medical Sciences and the resources of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.”
Meanwhile The Royal College of General Practitioners Wales has recommended an increase from 136 to 200 places with the aim of 500 more full-time GPs by 2021-2022.
Last month Welsh Government Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said there had been a 16% increase in the number of junior doctors choosing to come or stay in Wales to train.
The Welsh NHS launched a national and international recruitment drive last year, including a £20,000 Welsh Government cash incentive for junior doctors staying for a minimum of a year after training.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are already looking at the provision of medical education and training in North Wales, including the case for a new medical school. We expect to be in a position to announce our decision in the coming weeks.”
