THE First Minister is in denial there is a GP shortage, a Plaid Cymru politician has said.

In an exchange at First Minister's Questions in the Senedd, Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd asked the First Minister about the shortage of GPs in the Wrexham area, a matter that has been flagged up by the Royal College of General Practitioners as well as by patients unable to see their family doctor.

Mr Gruffydd said: "Six years ago, the Royal College of GPs carried out a survey of GPs in Wrexham. A third of them said they intended to leave the profession within 5 years.

"Six years later that has come to pass and so do you regret not taking more action at that point given the warnings about the loss of doctors in the Wrexham area and what are you doing now to put that right?"

First Minister Mark Drakeford replied: "Well, at the current time there are 770 GPs working in north Wales and eight posts are vacant, so I just don't accept what the Member says."

Speaking later, Mr Gruffydd said: "The First Minister is clearly in denial about the reality on the ground - Wales has a lower proportion of GPs per patient than any European country bar Poland and there is a specific problem in Wrexham. GP shortages - just ask patients at Hillcrest, Forge Rd, Borras as well as patients who are seeing GP services being curtailed in Plas Madoc and Gresford.

"This is not a criticism of the GPs or their staff - far from it. This is a systemic failure of workforce planning on the part of Welsh Government, who have refused to prioritise medical training in the North until now. Plaid has called time and time again for more doctors to be trained, recruited and retained over the past decade and has met with a wall of indifference by this Labour Government.

"While it's good to see the new medical school finally being set up in north Wales, it will take the best part of a decade to see this bear fruit. It's having a direct effect on patients' lives now and NHS staff are stretched to breaking point because of these shortages.

"The impact of not having enough GPs and an overstretched primary care sector is being seen in Emergency admissions, late diagnoses and ultimately more pressure on hospitals and other NHS services. The knock-on effect on long-term health will be huge if we don't address this problem and having a First Minister in denial about the issue is not helpful.

"I know there is work going on to improve the overall primary care sector in Wrexham - more use of pharmacies, practice nurses, paramedics and Advance Nurse Practitioners. That will help ease the burden on GPs but this doesn't get us away from the real shortage of doctors we face in the here and now."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said GP surgeries are open to meet patients.

They added: “Our Train Work Live marketing campaign has worked with partners to deliver a significant increase in the take up of GP training places over recent years. Since 2017 we have also provided financial incentives to attract GP trainees to specialist training schemes in north and west Wales, areas that are historically hard to recruit to.

“Despite the pressures facing GPs, practices are open and working to meet patient needs undertaking more appointments than ever. We are committed to investing in multidisciplinary teams to ensure people can access a wider group of health professionals, including practice nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists.”