English: Can I start with a word of thanks to the Cabinet Secretary for his readiness to make himself available from time to time to discuss issues in relation to NHS services? I personally appreciate the opportunity to have those conversations with you. I'm not a member of the Health committee but, in common with many other Assembly Members, obviously have pressures on GP recruitment in particular in my constituency. I have a practice that has recently closed its list and asked patients to reregister with other practices, and others are under very, very real pressure of a similar nature. Many have adopted innovative ways of practising, multidisciplinary ways of practising, which we should encourage practices to adopt generally, although often they have been adopted as a result of shortages. There are initiatives amongst practices locally and at the health board level to recruit GPs and some of those are succeeding, but they are long term, if you like, in their effects. The comments I want to make, really, relate to the Welsh Government's initiatives in this respect, in particular the Train, Work, Live recruitment initiative, under which GP trainees get a substantial incentive to continue to work in their local area for a year after their training ends. That's obviously of significant benefit to those areas that have been targeted for that support, mainly in west Wales and in north Wales, and I don't for one second begrudge residents of those parts of Wales the support that they will be getting for recruitment initiatives there. But, really, it's a plea to the Government to keep the effects of that on other parts of Wales, where there are also great pressures on recruitment, often for reasons, as Julie Morgan said, of rurality in constituencies like mine, which are not predominantly rural but have pockets of rurality that suffer from similar challenges as those parts of Wales that are predominantly rural. The risk, of course, is that the scheme may operate not just as a draw to those parts of Wales but create a sort of competitive disadvantage, if I can put it like that, to those other parts of Wales that still suffer from significant recruitment pressures. So, I hope the Government will keep that incentive scheme under review and look in particular at perhaps perverse consequences that may arise in other parts of Wales that suffer similar pressures on their recruitment.
Welsh: A gaf fi ddechrau gyda gair o ddiolch i Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet am ei barodrwydd i sicrhau ei fod ar gael o bryd i'w gilydd er mwyn trafod materion yn ymwneud â gwasanaethau'r GIG? Yn bersonol, rwy'n gwerthfawrogi'r cyfle i gael y sgyrsiau hynny gyda chi. Nid wyf yn aelod o'r pwyllgor Iechyd, ond fel llawer o Aelodau eraill y Cynulliad, yn amlwg mae pwysau ar recriwtio meddygon teulu yn enwedig yn fy etholaeth i. Mae gennyf bractis sydd wedi cau ei restr yn ddiweddar ac wedi gofyn i gleifion ailgofrestru gyda meddygfeydd eraill, ac mae meddygfeydd eraill o dan bwysau go iawn o natur debyg. Mae llawer wedi mabwysiadu dulliau arloesol o ymarfer, dulliau amlddisgyblaethol o ymarfer, a dylem annog meddygfeydd i fabwysiadu'r rhain yn gyffredinol, er eu bod yn aml wedi cael eu mabwysiadu o ganlyniad i brinder. Ceir mentrau ymhlith practisau'n lleol ac ar lefel y bwrdd iechyd i recriwtio meddygon teulu ac mae rhai o'r rheini'n llwyddo, ond maent yn fentrau hirdymor, os mynnwch, o ran eu heffeithiau. Mae'r sylwadau rwyf am eu gwneud, mewn gwirionedd, yn ymwneud â mentrau Llywodraeth Cymru yn hyn o beth, yn enwedig menter recriwtio Hyfforddi, Gweithio, Byw lle bydd rhai sy'n hyfforddi i fod yn feddygon teulu yn cael cymhelliant sylweddol i barhau i weithio yn eu hardal leol am flwyddyn wedi i'w hyfforddiant ddod i ben. Mae hynny'n amlwg o fudd sylweddol i'r ardaloedd hynny a dargedwyd ar gyfer y cymorth hwnnw, yn bennaf yng ngorllewin Cymru ac yng ngogledd Cymru, ac nid wyf am un eiliad yn gwarafun i drigolion y rhannau hynny o Gymru y gefnogaeth y byddant yn ei chael ar gyfer mentrau recriwtio yno. Ond mewn gwirionedd, mae'n apêl ar y Llywodraeth i gadw effeithiau hynny ar rannau eraill o Gymru mewn cof, ardaloedd lle ceir pwysau mawr ar recriwtio hefyd, yn aml am resymau, fel y dywedodd Julie Morgan, yn ymwneud â gwledigrwydd mewn etholaethau fel fy un i, nad ydynt yn wledig yn bennaf ond sydd â phocedi o wledigrwydd sy'n dioddef o heriau tebyg i'r rhannau o Gymru sy'n wledig yn bennaf. Y risg, wrth gwrs, yw y gall y cynllun weithredu nid yn unig fel atyniad i'r rhannau hynny o Gymru ond y gall greu math o anfantais gystadleuol, os caf ei roi felly, i'r rhannau eraill hynny o Gymru sy'n dal i ddioddef o bwysau recriwtio sylweddol. Felly, rwy'n gobeithio y bydd y Llywodraeth yn cadw'r cynllun cymhelliant dan arolwg ac yn edrych yn benodol ar ganlyniadau sydd efallai'n groes i'r graen a allai godi mewn rhannau eraill o Gymru sy'n dioddef pwysau tebyg ar eu recriwtio.