:00:00. > :00:07.Tonight on the Wales Report: Warnings from experts that the Welsh
:00:08. > :00:13.NHS is facing a recruitment crisis, with essential services being put at
:00:14. > :00:16.risk. We investigate. One year on, what impact are the UK
:00:17. > :00:21.Government's welfare changes having on Welsh communities? And Wales on
:00:22. > :00:25.screen. Is Welsh life being adequately reflected in the media?
:00:26. > :00:46.Stay with us for the Wales Report. Good evening and welcome back to the
:00:47. > :00:49.Wales Report. On tonight's programme, does Wales have enough
:00:50. > :00:52.doctors and nurses to run the health service effectively? According to
:00:53. > :00:55.many in the sector, the NHS in Wales is facing severe problems when it
:00:56. > :00:59.comes to recruiting and retaining staff in hospitals, general practice
:01:00. > :01:02.and nursing. Experts say the situation is now at crisis point,
:01:03. > :01:07.and this summer could see GP practices closing and hospitals
:01:08. > :01:18.unable to offer certain services. Helen Callaghan has been
:01:19. > :01:22.investigating. When you are ill, you expect the
:01:23. > :01:27.place where you are being looked after to be fully staffed with the
:01:28. > :01:30.best people. But there are serious concerns this is not happening in
:01:31. > :01:38.Wales and we have been told that recruitment robins are fat in the
:01:39. > :01:44.entire NHS -- recruitment problems are affecting.
:01:45. > :01:52.I think you have to look at the man and and whether the demand outstrip
:01:53. > :01:54.the resource and it does. The situation is at breaking point. I
:01:55. > :01:59.would describe it as a perfect storm.
:02:00. > :02:05.We can look at the Labour record in Wales. With the Welsh NHS under
:02:06. > :02:10.constant attack, allegations of a recruitment crisis are the blow.
:02:11. > :02:14.The Health Minister is adamant there is not one but that is not what X
:02:15. > :02:26.votes -- experts have told this programme. Doctor Banfield is a
:02:27. > :02:33.consultant who trains junior doctors. He has also -- he is also
:02:34. > :02:36.chair of the medical Association in Wales. He says a lack of hospital
:02:37. > :02:45.doctors could cause severe problems this summer.
:02:46. > :02:52.There is a crisis how and it will precipitate out in August of next
:02:53. > :02:56.year. Hospitals will have difficulty recruiting for specific specialties
:02:57. > :03:01.and our concern is that health boards will then use that as an
:03:02. > :03:06.excuse to close services based on safety issues.
:03:07. > :03:12.Doctor Banfield says the cause of this problem is twofold. Wales does
:03:13. > :03:16.not attract enough trainee doctors. And those who do qualify here do not
:03:17. > :03:19.stay. The reality is that Wales is not
:03:20. > :03:24.physically large enough to provide specialist training, so junior
:03:25. > :03:32.doctors at some point have to leave Wales in order to get a training
:03:33. > :03:35.across a wider experience. He says the problem is they do not return
:03:36. > :03:39.and more needs to be done to encourage them back.
:03:40. > :03:43.Welsh Government and health boards are perfectly aware of the problems
:03:44. > :03:48.they have got and what we need is to get them together with the
:03:49. > :03:56.profession and the higher education institutions, the universities, to
:03:57. > :04:01.plan their way out of this. When it comes to general practice,
:04:02. > :04:06.Doctor Charlotte Jones says there simply are not enough doctors across
:04:07. > :04:11.Wales to meet demand. GPs are absolutely on their knees. Their
:04:12. > :04:16.workload is saturated, demand is ever-increasing. The expectations
:04:17. > :04:19.placed on GPs are ever-increasing. The complexes the lovely type of
:04:20. > :04:25.work we do as well as less complex work but lots of demand means that
:04:26. > :04:30.we are actually completely stretched to capacity -- the complexity of the
:04:31. > :04:36.type of work. She says this affects the whole of
:04:37. > :04:40.Wales. The Wales report has seen the initial findings of an ongoing
:04:41. > :04:46.survey which suggests there will be a worrying shortage of doctors in
:04:47. > :04:50.the next five years. Of the 282 GPs practices already questioned, a
:04:51. > :04:55.third say that they have a vacancy to be filled over the next 12
:04:56. > :05:00.months. What I am concerned about is Will there be GP practices shutting?
:05:01. > :05:06.What we need to see is a significant investment within the recruitment
:05:07. > :05:14.and retention of GPs right now, as well as looking into the medium and
:05:15. > :05:16.long-term. The Royal College agrees. Surgeries are underfunded. Their
:05:17. > :05:20.latest research suggests more money is needed to bring the nub of
:05:21. > :05:26.doctors in Wales back to adequate levels. -- number.
:05:27. > :05:36.We will have to spend an extra ?140 million over the coming years. The
:05:37. > :05:39.pressure is taking its toll. Some GPs are burning out and others are
:05:40. > :05:45.even taking early retirement. They simply cannot take any more in
:05:46. > :05:50.the job and that is so hard to see. It is so unnecessary really. If the
:05:51. > :05:52.problems were addressed properly and sustainably, then I think that we
:05:53. > :05:59.would have a flourishing Welsh general practice, which is what we
:06:00. > :06:03.all want. Many nurses across Wales are
:06:04. > :06:07.complaining they are overwhelmed by the pressures of understaffing.
:06:08. > :06:10.Latest research from the Royal College of Nursing shows they are
:06:11. > :06:15.doing more unpaid overtime because there are not enough staff and that
:06:16. > :06:21.each nurse in Wales treats more patients than those working in other
:06:22. > :06:25.parts of the UK. When anything goes wrong, it is the sing staff that are
:06:26. > :06:28.heralded up for not giving appropriate care and poor care. --
:06:29. > :06:34.nursing staff. But when we examine quite a number of those issues, it
:06:35. > :06:38.is down to resources. And nurses themselves are saying, I am fed at
:06:39. > :06:43.going home at the end of the day feeling that I have not cut the time
:06:44. > :06:46.to care. Budget restraints have led to intermittent recruitment freezes
:06:47. > 9:59:51across some health boards. Instead of taking