A WELSH government minister visited Pembrokeshire for the launch of a national initiative to recruit GPs from England and further afield to meet with demand in Wales.

Vaughan Gething, Welsh Government Health Secretary, visited Winch Lane Surgery on Monday, October 15 to launch the second year of the This is Wales: Train. Work. Live. Campaign, aimed at recruiting GPs into the Welsh NHS.

The campaign has a budget of £500,000 a year, and also works to recruit other medical professionals into Wales.

Speaking before the launch, Mr Gething said: “I’ve been absolutely delighted with the success of this campaign, but there’s more work to do to ensure all of our GP training places are filled for the future.

“I’m proud of the impact this campaign has had so far. It has shown that Wales is not only an excellent place to live but it’s also a great place to train and work.”

The scheme offers £20,000 to doctors to train in areas of Wales which have had long term difficulty filling places, on the condition they will remain in the area for one year of practice afterwards.

During the launch Mr Gething discussed how to retain GPs who had been recruited through the scheme to prevent the need to fill vacancies several years down the line.

Three trainee GP who have benefitted from the scheme were also at the launch: Ceri Smith, 27, Harriet Poynter 27, and William Barr, 29.

Ceri, who grew up in Pembrokeshire had started a traineeship in London but realised she wanted to move back home as she missed it.

“I think the retention of GPs is a problem throughout the UK, as they often burn out. I don’t think this problem is going to be solved overnight, but this scheme will help with retention,” she said.

Harriet, who moved from London to Pembrokeshire to take part in the scheme, said: "I have lived in London all my life, so a move to Wales was a big step for me. It was always the plan to continue my training in London, but after a year in a long-distance relationship with a man based in Wales I started to weigh-up my options.

“The best thing about working in the hospital here is the effect the Welsh education contract is having on my training, allowing me to meet all my training needs. I’m also enjoying living on the coast, even the drive to work still amazes me."

This year, an incentive is also being offered to encourage psychiatrists to train in Wales. This consists of a one off-payment of up to £1,900 for psychiatry core trainees to cover the cost of one sitting of the MRCPsych membership exams.