12 December 2023
RCGP Cymru Wales Responds to Senedd Report on Gynaecological Cancers
RCGP Cymru Wales has responsed to the Senedd Health and Social Services Committee's report on gynaecological cancers:
"The report makes sobering reading and raises important challenges for general practice. We would never want our patients to feel that their concerns have not been taken seriously, and our responsibility to keep up to date with NICE Guidelines is a key part of our duty of care to our patients. We are already creating additional professional education opportunities in this field.
"It is impossible to detach the findings of this report from the broader issue of the unsustainable workload in general practice. RCGP has campaigned for longer consultation times and improved patient access, but for both of these to be achieved we need more GPs. Pre-pandemic Wales was served by 404 surgeries and now as we respond to a huge and increasing workload, we have seen a consistent fall in the number of practices with 25 less than at the start of 2020. There has been an 18% reduction in the number of practices over the last decade. Meanwhile, the number of full-time equivalent GPs has also fallen in every quarter bar one since Welsh Government began publishing this data in 2021.
"Every patient should expect to have their concerns listened to with seriousness and compassion. Where general practice has come up short on this measure we are determined to improve."
Further information
Nicolas Webb
Policy and Public Affairs Manager
Tel: 020 3188 7767
nicolas.webb@rcgp.org.uk
Notes
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.