Rural Meirionnydd is bearing the brunt of the GP crisis, Dwyfor Meirionnydd MS, Mabon ap Gwynfor has warned.

Mr ap Gwynfor says rural communities in Meirionnydd are suffering disproportionally when it comes to the crisis in GP recruitment, and is calling on the health minister to visit Tywyn to see for herself the crisis facing primary care.    

Figures from the General Medical Council (GMC) reveal Wales has a higher proportion of GPs over the age of 60 than anywhere else in the UK. Of the 3,107 GPs in Wales, 742 (23.9 per cent) are nearing retirement. The health minister confirmed on Wednesday that of the total number of GPs in Wales - 1,562 are working full-time. 

Research from BMA Cymru in 2014 also identified that Wales needed to recruit an additional 200 GPs a year to meet increasing demand on services. However, this 200-a-year target has not been met once by Welsh Government since it was first introduced.     

As reported by the Cambrian News, Mr ap Gwynfor recently held a packed public meeting in Tywyn where over 200 people turned up to have their say on challenges facing health services in south Meirionnydd, from a chronic lack of GPs and dentists to an under-used hospital.   

Questioning the health minister in the Senedd on Wednesday, Mr ap Gwynfor said: "I recently held a public meeting in Tywyn to discuss the dire problems facing local people in accessing health services in the area. Neuadd Pendre was packed such was the strength of feeling about the issue.

"Up until around four years ago, the area had outstanding health provision. Now, Tywyn has gone from having four GPs in a practice to having a managed GP practice with only half a GP.’   

‘Other areas in south Meirionnydd face similar challenges with an increasing number of GPs retiring. If we aren’t careful there is a very strong chance that we’ll end up with only two full-time GPs in the whole of south Meirionnydd.  

‘Over a quarter of all GPs in Wales are over sixty and close to retiring. Bro Dysynni and Tywyn require at least another three GPs, in addition to increased provision across the rest of Meirionnydd.

"I’d like to invite the health minister to visit Tywyn and work with the local health board to develop an urgent and comprehensive recruitment plan to recruit more GPs to Bro Dysynni and south Meirionnydd."

Hear what the minister had to say in the video attached