Category: Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE : 559 million children currently exposed to high heatwave frequency, rising to all 2.02 billion children globally by 2050 [October 2022]
The press release issued by UNICEF on 25 October 2022.

559 million children are currently exposed to high heatwave frequency, according to new research from UNICEF. Further, 624 million children are exposed to one of three other high heat measures – high heatwave duration, high heatwave severity or extreme high temperatures.

During a year in which heatwaves in both the southern and northern hemispheres broke records, The Coldest Year Of The Rest Of Their Lives: Protecting Children From The Escalating Impacts Of Heatwaves highlights the already extensive impact of heatwaves on children and reveals that, even at lower levels of global heating, in just three decades, more regular heatwaves are unavoidable for children everywhere.

The report estimates that by 2050, all of the world’s 2.02 billion children are expected to be exposed to high heatwave frequency, regardless of whether the world achieves a ‘low greenhouse gas emission scenario’ with an estimated 1.7 degrees of warming in 2050 or a ‘very high greenhouse gas emission scenario’ with an estimated 2.4 degrees of warming in 2050.

Produced in collaboration with The Data for Children Collaborative and launched in partnership with UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Vanessa Nakate and Africa-based Rise Up Movement, these findings underscore the urgent need to adapt the services children rely on as unavoidable impacts of global heating unfold. It also makes a case for continued mitigation, to prevent the worst impacts of the other high heat measures, including sustained and severe heatwaves and extreme high temperatures.

“The mercury is rising and so are the impacts on children,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Already, 1 in 3 children live in countries that face extreme high temperatures and almost 1 in 4 children are exposed to high heatwave frequency, and it is only going to get worse. More children will be impacted by longer, hotter and more frequent heatwaves over the next thirty years, threatening their health and wellbeing. How devastating these changes will be depends on the actions we take now. At a minimum, governments must urgently limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius and double adaptation funding by 2025. This is the only way to save children’s lives and futures – and the future of the planet.”

Heatwaves are especially damaging to children, as they are less able to regulate their body temperature compared to adults. The more heatwaves children are exposed to, the greater the chance of health problems including chronic respiratory conditions, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases. Babies and young children are at the greatest risk of heat-related mortality. Heatwaves can also affect children’s environments, their safety, nutrition and access to water, and their education and future livelihood.

The report found high heatwave duration currently impacts 538 million, or 23 per cent of, children globally. This will rise to 1.6 billion children in 2050 at 1.7 degrees warming, and 1.9 billion children at 2.4 degrees warming, emphasising the importance of urgent and dramatic emissions mitigation and adaptation measures to contain global heating and protect lives.

Millions more children will be exposed to high heatwave severity and extreme high temperatures depending on the degree of global heating reached. Children in northern regions, especially Europe, will face the most dramatic increases in high severity heatwaves and, by 2050, nearly half of all children in Africa and Asia will face sustained exposure to extreme high temperatures.

Currently 23 countries fall into the highest category for child exposure to extreme high temperatures. This will rise to 33 countries by 2050 under the low emissions scenario and 36 countries under the very high emissions scenario. Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Sudan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan are among the countries likely to remain in the highest category in both scenarios.

“The climate shocks of 2022 provided a strong wakeup call about the increasing danger hurtling towards us,” said Vanessa Nakate, climate activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. “Heatwaves are a clear example. As hot as this year has been in almost every corner of the world, it will likely be the coldest year of the rest of our lives. The dial is being turned up on our planet and yet our world leaders haven’t begun to sweat. The only option is for us to continue to turn up the heat – on them – to correct the course we are on. World leaders must do this at COP27 for children everywhere, but especially the most vulnerable children in the most affected places. Unless they take action, and soon, this report makes it clear that heatwaves will become even harsher than they are already destined to be.”

UNICEF is calling on governments to:
- PROTECT children from climate devastation by adapting social services. Every country must adapt critical social services – water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, education, nutrition, social protection and child protection – to protect children and young people. For example, food systems must be strengthened to withstand hazards and ensure continued access to healthy diets. Increased investments must be made in the early prevention, detection and treatment of severe malnutrition in children, mothers and vulnerable populations. At COP27, children and their rights must be prioritized in decisions on adaptation.
- PREPARE children to live in a climate-changed world. Every country must provide children and young people with climate change education, disaster risk reduction education, green skills training and opportunities to meaningfully participate and influence climate policy making. COP27 must see countries strengthen the focus on children’s climate education and empowerment in the ACE action plan, adopt it, and implement previous commitments to build youth capacity.
- PRIORITIZE children and young people in climate finance and resources. Developed countries must deliver on their COP26 agreement to double adaptation funding to $40bn per year by 2025 at a minimum, as a step to delivering at least $300bn per year for adaptation by 2030. Adaptation funding must make up half of all climate finance. COP27 must unlock progress on loss and damage, placing the resilience of children and their communities at the center of discussions on action and support.
- PREVENT a climate catastrophe by drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and keep 1.5 degrees Celsius alive. Emissions are projected to rise by 14% this decade, putting us on a path to catastrophic global heating. All governments must revisit their national climate plans and policies to increase ambition and action. They must cut emissions by at least 45% by 2030 to keep heating to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : The Far Right Response To Rishi Sunak, Britain’s First Hindu Prime Minister [October 2022]

The press release issued by Hope Not Hate on 26 October 2022.

Aside from any political considerations, Sunak’s appointment as the first British Asian Prime Minister – and the first Prime Minister from any ethnic minority since Benjamin Disraeli in the 1870s – is a historic moment for the UK. That Britain now has a Prime Minister who is Hindu and a Mayor of London who is Muslim is certainly a sign of progress.

However, minority representation in high places does not in itself solve the very real experience of racism and oppression faced by people of colour in the UK. It does not, as some have claimed, mean that Britain is now a post-racial society and it also does not mean that this new Conservative government won’t make things worse. Sunak’s reappointment of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, who has described deporting refugees to Rwanda as her “dream” and “obsession”, is yet another depressing reminder of that.

Nevertheless, the decision of so many Tory MPs to endorse Sunak for leader is something that could not have occurred in previous decades, when it was often taken as a given that the electorate would reject non-white candidates at constituency level, let alone as Prime Minister.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, there remains a section of British society who very much reject Sunak on the grounds of his ethnicity and religion. Many on the UK’s far right have made clear that, aside from any political considerations, Sunak’s ethnic and religious identity alone should be enough to disqualify him from office.

For overtly race-focussed fascist groups like Patriotic Alternative and the British Freedom Party, the selection of the UK’s first Asian Prime Minister is a useful illustration of their central platform: that white people in the UK are being “replaced” by minority groups.

A Telegram post from former BNP leader Nick Griffin

Emphasising his belief that no non-white person can ever be British, even if born in the UK, PA’s leader Mark Collett claimed that “white Britons are so terrified of discussing race and ethnicity that they dare not even confront the fact they are now officially and openly under foreign rule”.

Yet others on this wing of the far right were also quick to downplay the significance of the event, which they see as just another example of the “anti-white” ideology of the Conservative Party. As PA’s deputy leader Laura Towler put it:

“As a nationalist, perhaps I should be angry at the thought of a non-British PM but I actually feel nothing […] Rishi Sunak epitomises the Conservative Party. He’s a rich child of immigrants. He is exactly what his party wants for this country: to replace the British people and generate more wealth for the wealthy.”

For supporters of Collett and Towler, Sunak’s Indian heritage and Hindu religious beliefs are largely irrelevant – they see the entirety of the UK’s non-white population as being unwelcome and dangerous, and often dismiss the efforts of less committed racists to distinguish between “good” and “bad” minority.

The issue of Sunak’s ethnicity is more complicated for the UK’s anti-Muslim activists, who from the late 2000s onwards moved away from the explicit racism of the British National Party and attempted to portray themselves as solely concerned with fighting Islamic extremism and other issues within the Muslim community.

For groups like Britain First and the now-defunct English Defence League, the UK’s Hindu and Sikh populations were often held up as a “model minority”, which could be praised in order to denigrate the Muslim community and also deflect accusations of racism. In response to the recent violence in Leicester, Britain First’s deputy leader Ashlea Simon asked “where are the marches to protect the Hindu community?”

It is for that reason that Britain First felt unable to condemn the first Hindu Prime Minister in explicit terms, instead inviting their followers to make their own racist comments by posting two references to his Hindu faith along with an Indian flag emoji:

Their supporters delivered exactly the response in the comments that you’d expect. While one commenter responded that “Hindus are good guys”, others quickly laid bare their bigotry: “A pagan in No.10. It will need a future exorcism” said one, while another called it “the end of our judeo Christian country”.

Similar sentiments were on display from supporters of Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson), with comments on his Telegram including “Disgusting that a Indian is the pm of my beautiful England” and “all planned and fixed INDIAN PM IN ENGLAND couldn’t make this **** up unbelievable”.

Yet Lennon himself, who has recently courted far-right media outlets in India, has levelled his own criticism of Sunak not on ethnic or religious grounds but wider conspiratorial allegations, sharing links that claim his wife’s family own “a China-linked, World Economic Forum partner company pushing digital ID and social credit scores”.

This conspiratorial view – in which all current events are blamed on a shadowy global coup by woke/globalist/remainer elites – is not limited to those on the extreme fringes of the right. It is one that has had considerable airtime on GB News since its inception, with most of its hosts in seeming agreement that the self-inflicted political wounds suffered by Johnson and Truss were in fact part of a conspiracy to impose a “WEF-endorsed” candidate.

HOPE not hate has documented the efforts by the established far right to influence and recruit from the protest groups and online communities that developed in opposition to lockdowns and vaccines. We will doubtless see continued efforts to convert hostility to the premiership of Sunak, whether on the grounds of his actual policies or conspiracy theories about his role in a “globalist coup”, into a wider paranoia and hostility towards ethnic minority representation in politics.

October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Public health underspend starves England’s most deprived areas of vital services [October 2022]

The press release issued by the Health Foundation on 26 October 2022.

Analysis published today by the Health Foundation reveals that the public health grant has been cut by 24% on a real-terms per capita basis since 2015/16.

The cut falls more heavily on those living in the most deprived areas of England, who also tend to have poorer health. For example, in Blackpool – the most deprived local authority in the country – the per capita cut to the public health grant has been one of the largest at £42 per person per year.

The public health grant is used to provide vital preventative services that help people to stay healthy. The reduction in overall funding for the public health grant affects some services more than others. Stop smoking services and tobacco control have seen the greatest real terms fall in funding, with a 41% reduction. There have also been significant real terms reductions for drug and alcohol services (28%) and sexual health services (23%).

The authors argue that a whole-government strategy to improve health and reduce health inequalities is desperately needed. A commitment to a health disparities white paper by the new Secretary of State for health would be an opportunity to set out a strategy to reduce health inequalities that considers the role of every department.

The way in which the public health grant is administered should change. Allocations have been made just before the start of the financial year for the past three years. On top of the significant real-term reductions in the grant, the lack of certainty can make it difficult for local authorities to effectively plan and implement services for the longer term.

Reinvesting in public health is also vital to ensure that services can meet increased needs arising from both historic trends of worsening health and increased risks to health due to people’s experiences of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Jo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health Foundation, said: 

‘The UK is in the midst of an economic crisis that has significant consequences for the nation’s health. As the government scrambles to balance the books ahead of the fiscal plan, there are worrying signs that public services could face further cuts. Any more cuts could have long-lasting impacts on people’s health and further entrench health inequalities. There is a 19-year gap in the number of years a girl born in the most deprived 10% of areas can expect to live in good health compared with a girl born in the least deprived areas.

‘Opportunities to prevent the early deterioration of health are being missed. If the government fails to fund vital preventive services, people’s health will continue to erode, and the costs of dealing with this poor health will be felt across society and the economy.’

October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : RSPB Charity calls on Scottish Government to deliver on nature ambitions [October 2022]

The press release issued by the RSPB on 21 October 2022.

A new report, A World Richer in Nature: where nature and people can thrive, was released today charting how each of the UK’s nations can be Nature Positive by 2030. The report highlights that there are huge opportunities to achieve this target across the UK but that it will take a vast amount of work and calls for a ‘Decade of Action’.

RSPB Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government to heed the recommendations and actions outlined for Scotland in this report and ramp up delivery on its ambitions for nature. The charity says the first step must be a redrafted Biodiversity Strategy that is ambitious with clear, specific outcomes and actions for ecosystems and species.

This call comes ahead of global leaders gathering at the COP15 biodiversity summit in Canada in December to agree new targets for addressing the nature emergency.

In response to announcements by the UK Government at the end of September, that have been labelled as an Attack on Nature, the Scottish Government reaffirmed its commitments to maintain environmental protections and restore nature in Scotland.

RSPB Scotland welcomed these reassurances and said it supports the Scottish Government in doing all it can to ensure the UK Government’s actions do not damage nature or undermine efforts to restore it in Scotland. However, the charity is calling on the Scottish Government to ensure its strong words are transformed into meaningful actions. It raised concerns about the recent consultation on the Biodiversity Strategy, which the nature charity says fell woefully short of having the actions needed to turn ambition for nature’s recovery into reality.

The World Richer in Nature report includes sections on species recovery, protected areas, food and farming, fisheries, climate change, finance and people. Each section includes a summary of the current situation, a vision for the future, what actions are needed to get there, along with case study examples of successes.

RSPB Scotland believes by implementing the recommendations in the report and taking inspiration from what is possible, the Scottish Government could create a future Scotland where nature and people thrive.

Anne McCall, Director of RSPB Scotland, said: “Nature is in crisis around the globe. We need COP15 to deliver a strong, ambitious deal for nature’s recovery. However, there’s plenty of things the Scottish Government can do right now to tackle the nature crisis at home. The stated ambition to do this has never been higher, but this needs to manifest in real action. The recent draft of the Biodiversity Strategy fell short of what’s needed at this critical moment. There are four big gaps: species recovery, ecosystem restoration, the role of protected areas, and clear, specific outcomes.

We also need an ambitious Seabird Strategy particularly as we face the aftermath of the catastrophic impacts bird flu had on seabirds this year, an ambitious plan for delivering the target to protect 30% of Scotland for nature by 2030, and there is a big opportunity to transform agricultural funding to help nature and our climate.”

“We believe Scotland should and can be nature positive by 2030. There are incredible opportunities over the lifetime of this parliament and particularly the next 12 months for the Scottish Government to put us on that path and we’ve outlined how that could work in our report through a Decade of Action. Let’s hope those opportunities are taken for all our sakes.”

October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Good news PM has scrapped missed appointment charging plans – he must now address GP pressures [October 2022]

The press release issued by the Royal College of GPs on 28 October 2022.

Commenting on the news that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has abandoned his proposal to charge patients for missed GP appointments, Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “We’re pleased to hear this development. Charging patients for missed appointments would not have worked, would have disadvantaged some of our most vulnerable patients, and would simply have been tinkering at the edges given the scale of the crisis facing GPs and our teams.

“The latest NHS figures hammer home how GPs and our teams are working harder than ever whilst the number of fully-qualified full-time equivalent GPs has fallen since the Government made its manifesto promise of 6,000 more GPs by 2024 – a manifesto that the new Prime Minister has said he is committed to delivering.

“We’re pleased that the Prime Minister has listened to our concerns around charging for appointments. We now hope that he will listen to us about how to address the intense workload and workforce pressures GPs and our teams are working under, and the impact these are having on patients, and act.

“First and foremost, the Government must address the workforce crisis in general practice by devising and implementing a recruitment and retention strategy that will go beyond the 6,000 GPs promised, and make GP workload more manageable by reducing unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy. We must also see a return to 11% of the total health spend in general practice, and investment in our IT systems and premises, so that GPs and our teams can deliver the care our patients need and continue to keep the NHS sustainable.

“While we do not agree with fining patients for missing appointments, we would urge patients who are able to who no longer need their appointment to let their surgery know as soon as possible that they won’t be attending, so that consultations can be offered to other patients.”

October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : New PM must act fast to address intense workload and workforce pressures in general practice [October 2022]

The press release issued by the Royal College of GPs on 27 October 2022.

Responding to the latest NHS general practice workforce and consultation data, Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs said: “It’s important that the new Prime Minister and Health Secretary take note of today’s general practice data and urgently act to address the intense workload and workforce pressures facing our profession, and the impact this is having on patients.

“The figures show that GPs and our teams are working flat out to ensure patients receive the care and services they need, consistently delivering more consultations every month then before the pandemic. More than 29m appointments were delivered in September – almost 3m or 11% more than the same month pre-pandemic – with 41% of those carried out on the day they were booked, and more than two thirds delivered in person.

“Yet, while GPs and our teams work harder and harder, the number of fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs has fallen since the Government’s 2019 manifesto pledge to build the workforce by 6,000 by 2024.

“General practice is the bedrock of the health service, making the vast majority of NHS patient contacts and in doing so alleviating pressures elsewhere, including in A&E, but it is a service at breaking point. GPs and our teams are burning out, struggling to manage a workload that is escalating both in terms of volume and complexity.

“If the new Prime Minister is serious about delivering his Government’s manifesto, as he has this week said he is, then he needs to act fast and take heed of the College’s calls in our Fit for the Future campaign. First and foremost, he must address the workforce crisis in general practice by devising and implementing a recruitment and retention strategy that will go beyond the 6,000 GPs promised, and make GP workload more manageable by reducing unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy. We also must see a return to 11% of the total health spend in general practice, and investment in our IT systems and premises, so that GPs and our teams can deliver the care our patients need and continue to keep the NHS sustainable.”

Commenting further on the Prime Minister’s plans to charge patients for missed appointments, Prof Marshall said:

“It’s always frustrating to hear about missed GP appointments, particularly at a time when we have nowhere near enough GPs to meet increasing need for our services, as these could have been used for other patients. But charging for appointments is not the answer. It would fundamentally change the principle that the NHS is free at the point of need and would likely impact on our most vulnerable patients most – and it would add another layer of bureaucracy to a GP service already drowning in red tape.

“While we do not agree with fining patients for missing appointments, we would urge patients who are able to who no longer need their appointment to let their surgery know as soon as possible that they won’t be attending, so that consultations can be offered to other patients.”

October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Reading should be explicitly taught even in secondary schools [October 2022]
The press release issued by the Department for Education on 31 October 2022.

Today Ofsted has published a research report looking at how high-performing secondary schools provide targeted support for struggling readers.

Reading is essential to every subject and children who cannot read well will find it difficult to keep up with the demands of secondary school.

Read the report: ‘Now the whole school is reading’: supporting struggling readers in secondary school

Each year around one quarter of 11-year-olds do not meet the expected standard in reading at the end of primary school. Fewer than 1 in 5 of these pupils can expect to get a GCSE grade 4 in English. Being unable to read well can often also lead to poor behaviour. The consequences of poor reading extend beyond school, as evidence shows that adults with low literacy are likely to have fewer job opportunities and a lower income.

The aim of our study was to explore how schools make sure that pupils who leave primary school unable to read age-appropriate books fluently can become proficient readers and keep up with all their other curriculum subjects.

The 6 schools we visited for the research were chosen because a higher-than-expected proportion of their initially poor readers achieved a pass in English language at GCSE.

In these schools, we found that:
- Senior leaders prioritised reading by investing in additional, bespoke help for struggling readers and training for staff who taught reading
- Teachers accurately identified gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge
- Staff who taught reading had expertise in teaching weaker readers
- Clear procedures were in place to monitor this teaching and its impact on struggling readers
- As pupils’ reading improved, they gained confidence and became more motivated to engage with reading in class
Ofsted’s Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said:

The ability to read is a fundamental life skill. However, secondary school leaders and teaching staff should be aware that a significant number of their pupils are lacking the basics.

All children, with very few exceptions, should leave school proficient readers. That’s why it’s essential that children who leave primary school unable to read well get the additional teaching they need to participate both academically and in wider society.

The research visits to the 6 secondary schools took place in March 2022.
October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Salvation Army urges new PM must tackle poverty [October 2022]
The press release issued by the Salvation Army on 25 October 2022.

The Salvation Army is urging the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to use his first few days in office to ensure people on benefits can still afford to eat, pay their rent, and travel to and from work or school.

The simplest way to make this happen would be for benefits to rise in line with inflation.

Salvation Army Lieutenant-Colonel Dean Pallant said:

“We know difficult economic decisions have to be made but we can’t ask the most vulnerable people in society to forgo eating, heating and paying rent so the nation can balance the books.

“Measures by the Government to tackle rising energy prices are welcomed but the cost of everything has spiralled. The people queuing for our foodbanks and using our church halls to stay warm are often working or desperately trying to work and relying on Universal Credit to make ends meet. Our officers across the country are helping these people get through another week with emergency support like food parcels or providing warm coats but need is growing. We are facing a poverty crisis.”

On The Salvation Army frontline

Sara and her husband have two children, one of whom is autistic, and they live in a one-bedroomed flat. They are both employed but can’t work enough hours to pay for the basics. Sara recently had to use her son’s disability allowance to buy school uniforms. “When I’ve applied for a crisis fund to help pay for uniform, I’ve been told we earn too much. I have to use food support at The Salvation Army, I only go there because they are discreet. I won’t ask unless I’m desperate.”

The Resolution Foundation* estimate that an additional 600,000 people will slip into poverty unless benefits are uprated in line with inflation. This would bring the total rise in poverty by 2023/24 to 3.5 million people.

The Salvation Army is calling for:
- all benefits for people on low incomes to keep up with inflation
- an increase in housing benefit, so it covers the full cost of rent
- existing Universal Credit debt to be covered in the Government’s 60-day ‘Breathing Space’ scheme, giving people more time to make repayments.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dean Pallant continued:

“This is not only the morally right thing to do but also fiscally prudent as poverty affects physical and mental health and increases the risk of debt and homelessness. Helping people back from the impact of poverty takes love, time and frontline services like the NHS and employment support. What happens when we are faced with the bill for widespread chronic poverty?”

The Salvation Army runs services designed to help those who have slipped into poverty to get back on their feet including supporting people into jobs, debt advisors, afterschool clubs with hot meals for children, and help to live independently after being homeless.

The Salvation Army is also calling for medium term to help people recover from poverty and regain their independence. This includes:
- expanding free childcare provision, so parents can work or train
- mandating local leaders to set targets to reduce economic inactivity through Levelling Up funds to help people that have been excluded from the job market
- a new cross-Government task force to tackle, with empathy and compassion, the reasons people are not earning and are trapped in poverty.
Find out how we are helping those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis.
October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : QAA Response to NSS Consultation Outcomes [October 2022]

The press release issued by the QAA on 28 October 2022.

QAA is disappointed to hear that the Office for Students (OfS) intends to proceed with the removal of the summative question 27 in the National Student Survey (NSS) for providers in England – the only question that directly asks students whether they are satisfied with the quality of their course.

It is especially disappointing that the OfS is proceeding with this given the vast majority of respondents opposed the proposal, with only around a tenth of respondents supporting it.

As we stated in our response to the consultation earlier this year, QAA believes that prospective students will be at a disadvantage without access to the information provided by this question. We are also concerned that the removal of this question in England signals further divergence from a UK-wide approach to quality, which affects the global reputation of UK higher education.

QAA further believes that the purpose of the NSS ought to be viewed more broadly than as a regulatory tool in England, as the core survey criteria suggest. The NSS has wider value as a source of information for prospective students and for facilitating enhancement of the student academic experience.

QAA will continue to advocate for the use of high-quality quantitative and qualitative data that supports institutions in responding to the student voice for the enhancement of the student academic experience.

October 31, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Calls for more investment into GP training [October 2022]

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 28 October 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives have called on Labour ministers to invest more into the GP estate improving facilities for training.

Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“While we welcome the pay increase for GPs in Wales the simple fact is that doctor retention in Wales is far too low.

“For 25 years, successive Labour Governments have run our NHS into the ground, demoralising staff and hurting patients.

“We desperately need Labour ministers to invest more capital into the GP estate so that doctors have the space they need to train the next generation of GPs in Wales.”

October 31, 2022