English: There's a problem with general practice, as well. The north Wales medical committee has concerns regarding the sustainability of over a third of surgeries in the region: one in three surgeries is currently at risk. The committee says that we need an additional 70 GPs as a matter of urgency in north Wales. Now, in addition to the impact on patients, there is a financial cost to that shortage too. Expenditure on agency staff increased by 64 per cent over the past two years, whilst the latest information suggests that Betsi Cadwaladr will have spent more than £21 million on agency medical staff in the 11 months up to the end of February 2017 - £21 million. That's their own figure. A figure such as that is not sustainable, neither is it sensible. However, one could open a new medical school and maintain that for a far lower figure. Plaid Cymru has consistently argued that a new medical school for north Wales, serving rural parts of our nation, is part of the solution. Studies in various nations have demonstrated that there are three factors at the heart of attracting doctors to work in rural areas: first of all, a rural background, second, that the prospective medic has positive clinical and educational experiences in rural locations as part of their medical training as an undergraduate, and, third, that training for rural placements is targeted specifically at the postgraduate level. Now, one of the most successful medical training programmes in a rural area is a scheme between five states in the USA, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho - the WWAMI programme. Graduates from this programme return to practise in rural areas at far higher rates than graduates from most of the state-run medical schools in the United States. Eighty-three per cent of graduates in the WWAMI programme practise in a rural practice. At the Calgary medical school, graduates from rural backgrounds are two-and-a-half times more likely to practise in a rural practice as compared with those from an urban background. In Norway, 56 per cent of graduates from the Tromsø medical school in the north of the country remained in rural areas, and 82 per cent of graduates who were originally from northern Norway remained there to practice. Quite simply, prospective doctors from rural areas do tend to remain in the rural area where they have been trained. Therefore, it is practically possible to have a medical school in Bangor? Yes, most certainly, it is. Ireland has seven; Scotland has five, suggesting that one medical school for every million of the population is possible. The population of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board is around a million people, if you take it in conjunction with the Powys health board, but you can also add a part of the rural area of Hywel Dda health board to that figure to bring us to that figure of a million. So, a third medical school for Wales would align with the structures in Scotland and in Ireland. Plaid Cymru has consistently argued that the new medical school should be located in Bangor. A new medical school at Bangor University would build upon the expertise of the medical sciences school at the university and the clinical training, which is already provided in the three general hospitals of the region. Evidence suggests that a new medical school should initially work with an established medical school. There are a number of examples of new schools building on the expertise of medical science within universities, and therefore there is a clear way ahead, and with time, Bangor can develop into a medical school standing on its own two feet. In summary, a new medical school is crucial if Wales is to tackle the significant shortage of doctors facing this nation. In north Wales and in rural areas of Wales a number of medics are approaching retirement age, and there aren't enough people being trained in those areas. Governments across the world are responding to similar situations by increasing the training opportunities available. In rural areas, which face problems similar to Wales, new training institutions are established and medical schools are being located in those rural areas. Adapting structures already in existence simply doesn't work. These new institutions, in turn, create new generations of doctors who stay to serve those areas where they have been trained, dealing with the shortage of doctors and enhancing the quality of care for people in those areas. It's time to move forward with long-term solutions, with planning, in order to establish a new medical school along, with the short-term measures currently being put in place. Thank you.
Welsh: Mae problem efo meddygaeth teulu, hefyd. Mae gan bwyllgor meddygol gogledd Cymru bryder ynglŷn â chynaladwyedd dros dreian o feddygfeydd yn y rhanbarth: mae un o bob tair meddygfa mewn perig. Mae'r pwyllgor yn dweud bod angen 70 meddyg teulu ychwanegol ar fyrder yng ngogledd Cymru. Yn ogystal â'r effaith ar gleifion, mae cost ariannol i'r prinder. Fe gododd gwariant ar staff meddygol o asiantaethau 64 y cant yn y ddwy flynedd a aeth heibio, tra mae'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf yn awgrymu y bydd Betsi Cadwaladr wedi gwario mwy na £21 miliwn ar staff meddygol o asiantaethau yn yr 11 mis hyd at ddiwedd Chwefror 2017 - £21 miliwn; eu swm nhw eu hunain ydy hynny - ac nid ydy swm felly yn gynaliadwy nag yn synhwyrol. Ond fe ellid cynnal ysgol feddygol newydd am swm llawer llai na hynny. Mae Plaid Cymru wedi dadlau yn gyson fod ysgol feddygol newydd yn y gogledd, yn gwasanaethau rhannau gwledig ein gwlad, yn rhan o'r ateb. Mae astudiaethau mewn gwahanol wledydd wedi dangos bod tair ffactor yn ganolog i ddenu meddygon i weithio mewn ardaloedd gwledig: yn gyntaf, cefndir gwledig, un ail, fod y darpar feddyg yn cael profiadau clinigol ac addysgol cadarnhaol mewn lleoliadau gwledig fel rhan o hyfforddiant meddygol israddedig, ac, yn drydydd, fod hyfforddiant ar gyfer lleoliadau gwledig wedi cael ei dargedu yn benodol ar y lefel ôl-raddedig. Mae un o raglenni hyfforddi meddygol mwyaf llwyddiannus mewn ardal wledig yn gynllun rhwng pum talaith yn yr Unol Daleithiau, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana ac Idaho - cynllun WWAMI. Mae graddedigion y sefydliad yma yn dychwelyd i ymarfer mewn ardaloedd gwledig ar raddau llawer uwch na graddedigion o'r mwyafrif o ysgolion meddygol gwladwriaethol yn yr Unol Daleithiau. Mae 83 y cant o raddedigion WWAMI yn ymarfer mewn practis gwledig. Yn ysgol meddygaeth prifysgol Calgary, mae graddedigion o gefndiroedd gwledig ddwy a hanner gwaith mwy tebygol o ymarfer mewn practis gwledig na graddedigion o gefndir dinesig. Yn Norwy, roedd 56 y cant o raddedigion ysgol feddygol prifysgol Tromsø yn y gogledd yn aros mewn ardaloedd gwledig. Roedd 82 y cant o raddedigion a oedd yn dod yn wreiddiol o ogledd Norwy yn aros yno. Yn syml, mae darpar feddygon o ardaloedd gwledig yn tueddu i aros yn yr ardal wledig lle maen nhw wedi cael eu hyfforddi. Felly, a ydy hi'n ymarferol bosib cael ysgol feddygol ym Mangor? Ydy, yn bendant. Mae gan Iwerddon saith ysgol feddygol; mae gan yr Alban bump, gan awgrymu bod un ysgol feddygol ar gyfer pob miliwn o'r boblogaeth yn bosib. Tua miliwn yw poblogaeth ardal bwrdd iechyd Betsi Cadwaladr a bwrdd iechyd Powys efo'i gilydd, ond wedyn, fe ellid ychwanegu poblogaeth rhan o diriogaeth wledig bwrdd Hywel Dda at y ffigwr i ddod â ni yn grwn at y miliwn. Felly, mi fyddai trydedd ysgol feddygol i Gymru yn cyd-fynd efo strwythurau'r Alban ac Iwerddon. Mae Plaid Cymru wedi dadlau'n gyson mai ym Mangor y dylid lleoli yr ysgol feddygol newydd. Byddai ysgol feddygol newydd ym Mhrifysgol Bangor yn adeiladu ar arbenigedd ysgol gwyddorau meddygol y brifysgol a'r hyfforddiant clinigol sy'n barod yn cael ei gynnig yn nhri ysbyty cyffredinol y rhanbarth. Mae tystiolaeth yn awgrymu bod angen i ysgol newydd weithio ar y cychwyn efo ysgol feddygol sydd wedi ei sefydlu'n barod. Mae sawl enghraifft o ysgolion newydd yn adeiladu ar arbenigedd gwyddorau meddygol eu prifysgolion. Felly, mae yna ffordd amlwg ymlaen, a gydag amser, gall Bangor ddatblygu yn ysgol feddygol yn sefyll ar ei thraed ei hun. I grynhoi, mae ysgol feddygol newydd yn hanfodol os ydy Cymru am daclo'r prinder sylweddol o feddygon sy'n wynebu'r wlad. Yn y gogledd ac yn ardaloedd gwledig Cymru, mae nifer o feddygon yn agosáu at oed ymddeol ac nid oes digon o bobl ifanc yn cael eu hyfforddi yno. Mae Llywodraethau ledled y byd yn ymateb i sefyllfaoedd tebyg drwy gynyddu'r cyfleoedd hyfforddi sydd ar gael. Mewn ardaloedd gwledig sy'n wynebu problemau tebyg i Gymru, mae sefydliadau hyfforddi newydd yn cael eu sefydlu. Mae'r ysgolion meddygol yn cael eu lleoli yn yr ardaloedd gwledig eu hunain. Nid yw addasu'r strwythurau sy'n bodoli'n barod ddim yn gweithio. Mae'r sefydliadau newydd yma, yn eu tro, yn creu cenedlaethau newydd o ddoctoriaid sy'n aros i wasanaethu yn yr ardaloedd lle maen nhw wedi cael eu hyfforddi, gan ddelio efo'r prinder a gwella ansawdd y gofal i bobl yr ardaloedd hynny. Mae'n bryd symud ymlaen efo atebion tymor hir a chynllunio ar gyfer sefydlu ysgol feddygol newydd, law yn llaw â'r dulliau tymor byr sydd ar waith ar y funud. Diolch.