URGENT calls are being made for greater clinical staff cover for the Dwyfor area, after a Pwllheli surgery cancelled routine appointments for the rest of the week due to lack of doctors.

Treflan Surgery issued a notice to its 7,500 patients on Tuesday, 16 February, informing them that, due to staff shortages, they could only see emergency cases for the remainder of the week.

Practice manager Tracey Banks said the surgery has been failed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which has still not addressed the ongoing problem of GP shortages in the area.

“Due to severe clinical staff shortage, we have had to resort to seeing emergencies only for the remainder of the week,” she said.

“Patient safety is our priority and by applying this policy we can ensure that people who are acutely unwell can be seen the same day. Unfortunately, there is no availability of locums in the area we can utilise."

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts is now calling for greater doctor coverage throughout her constituency.

“The whole system is dependent on GPs serving as gatekeepers of the health system. It’s incumbent upon the health board to do all it can to prevent the situation from worsening," she said.

BCHUB say they haven’t been alerted to any specific short-term staffing issues by the Pwllheli practice, but would support their decision to take the steps they consider necessary to make sure that patients with the most urgent clinical needs can continue to be seen.

Wyn Thomas, assistant area director of primary care, said: “We recognise nationally there are difficulties with recruiting GPs.

“We are working to attract more GPs to north Wales. We also support surgeries to develop the roles of other health professionals working in primary care to provide care for more patients, freeing up more GPs’ time to see those people who require the attention of a doctor.”

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