£10m plan to boost primary care services across Wales

The plan aims to move more resources from hospitals into the community

A new £10m plan to improve access to GP services and deliver more NHS care in the community has been announced.

The four-year primary care programme aims to treat the root causes of ill health and prevent people from going into hospital unnecessarily.

It could see more patients diagnosed and treated closer to home.

A doctors' group has described the announcement as a "welcome step in the right direction".

It follows previous warnings that GP services in Wales face a looming crisis due to rising demand and limited resources.

Under the Welsh government's plan, patients could be accessing their medical records and care plans online by 2018, while hospital specialists could provide more community support to patients over the telephone or using video technology.

The plan also aims to help those who are admitted to hospital get home quickly and support those with chronic conditions and long-term illnesses to manage their health at home using technology.

Nurses could also get extra training to allow them to undertake more of the work traditionally carried out by GPs.

Analysis Health Correspondent Owain Clarke

Primary care, which involves GPs, opticians, dentists and pharmacists, is the frontline of the health service.

For 90% of us these services are our first point of contact with the NHS, but demand is increasing all the time.

From a population of just three million - there are 19m contacts between patients and primary care each year with more than 76m items being prescribed.

So the workload is increasing, partly due to the success of modern health-care.

But the Welsh Government admits it's finding it difficult to meet the demand.

The Royal College of GPs has given the plan a cautious welcome.

It says £10m could support a much-needed shift towards delivering care closer to home, but points out that while GP workloads have risen, the amount spent per patient has not.

Announcing the plan Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said it would help people to look after themselves and ultimately avoid inappropriate and unnecessary hospital admissions where possible.

"Primary care is where we can make the biggest impact in tackling the major health challenges we face as a nation," said the deputy minister.

"Our new four-year plan will help secure and improve primary care services across Wales, ensuring they are the engine room of the Welsh NHS."

The funding from the Welsh government is in addition to a £3.5m investment announced earlier this week.

Responding to Thursday's announcements, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the RCGP, said there was "a lot to be excited about" in the plans, and they will be taking a detailed examination of the proposals.

"Providing this is new money, the fund announced today represents a vital opportunity to boost patient care in Wales," said Dr Paul Myres, chair of the RCGP in Wales.