Part of the debate – Senedd Cymru am 4:10 pm ar 28 Mawrth 2023.
Thanks very much. Well, just to note some of the access requirements, some of the things that we’re expecting them to do are to move away from that one approach that’s been there in the past, which is the face-to-face approach. So, we’re looking at blended models. We are looking to make sure that they are able to offer urgent, on-the-day appointments, and that they should also be giving pre-bookable appointments, so, things that, when you phone, you can book an appointment for the future. So, these are some of the things that we are expecting them to do, although not necessarily on the same day.
Telephone consultation is another approach that we’re obviously encouraging and expecting to happen. That is, obviously, something that happens a lot now. There’s not much use being made—although we spent quite a lot of resources on it during the pandemic—of the video consultation that is available to GPs; they seem to still be more comfortable with the telephone approach. But also, that digital contact, the e-consult, is not available everywhere at the moment. I would hope to see that being rolled out as well, including, also, perhaps three releases a day, so it’s not just all of the appointments being given at 8 o’clock in the morning, but actually you’ve got to stagger them throughout the day.
And then, just on 111 'press 2', it’s still very much early days on this. It has been successful, but the key thing for us—one of the key things for us—is to make sure that we can provide that service over 24 hours. Because what we want to do is to make sure that people understand that it’s available, and to take the pressure, again, off people turning up to accident and emergency services. So, intervention early when it comes to mental health is absolutely key, and not letting those issues mount up, which is why I’m hoping that that service will be successful. As I say, it has been rolled out in many places already.