A drive to recruit doctors to train as GPs in Wales has been so successful that extra training places have been created, it has been announced. Wales had sought to increase 136 trainees this year – but has now appointed 144. The country has been offering bonuses of £20,000 to trainees choosing to work in…

A fresh drive has been launched to entice doctors to work as GPs – and psychiatrists – in Wales. The Welsh government is hoping to repeat the success of last year’s campaign, which has enabled it to fill 91% of GP training places this year. Yesterday’s launch focused on the remote county of Pembrokeshire, which…

Restrictions on GPs transferring from England to Wales should be lifted to help fill vacancies, according to a health official. Doctors are waiting at least eight weeks to be admitted to the country’s “performers’ list” for GPs – and this is deterring locums, according to the North Wales Community Health Council. The council says there…

Dozens of practices in Wales are at risk, according to a new analysis by the British Medical Association. Over two years five practices have closed and 18 have handed back their contracts. But a further 29 have sought funding help from health boards – and another 29 are planning to do so, the BMA found.…

Practices in Wales will benefit from a 40% reduction in the number of QOF indicators in the coming year, it has been announced. QOF reporting has been suspended over the last few months in a bid to reduce pressure on practices in the country. The British Medical Association said it had agreed a reduction in…

Welsh practices have made progress in improving access for their patients, the country’s government said yesterday. The government in Wales has promised to improve opening times from Monday to Friday – rather than on weekend opening as in England. It says it has been successful in ensuring that few practices close for half days –…

An official inquiry has been launched in Wales to establish whether general practice clusters will help solve the country’s crisis in primary care. Some £10 million has been pumped in primary care clusters in Wales as part of a £43 million injection of cash into front-line services. Members of the Welsh Assembly say they have…