GP services in deprived parts of Wales 'face collapse'

GP PRACTICES serving the most deprived parts of Wales are under-resourced, overworked and facing collapse despite experiencing the greatest patient need, a committee has heard.

- CHRIS HAINES

Professor Adrian Edwards, an academic at Cardiff University, gave evidence to a Senedd health committee inquiry on the future of general practice.

Prof Edwards, who retired from practice in May, reminded Senedd members of the inverse care law - a term coined by Julian Tudor Hart, a GP in Glyncorrwg, Afan Valley, in 1971.

It states that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need for it in the population served - so those who need healthcare most often have the least access.

Prof Edwards warned that the UK is lagging behind other countries, with 45 GPs per 100,000 population compared with Australia (121), Canada (103) and New Zealand (74). He added that Wales was bottom of the UK table, according to latest statistics.

The academic, who was a GP partner for 25 years at a practice which handed back its NHS contract in 2020, said the number of partners has declined every year for a decade.