Author: Rhys Gregory

Health Minister Eluned Morgan today (1 December) announced new changes to the GP contract to help to improve access to appointments. The changes, which are backed by £12m of extra investment, will end the morning scramble to book an appointment. The revised contract will make it clear the practice of releasing appointments daily at 8am is no longer acceptable. Instead, the new GP access commitment will help ensure people are triaged appropriately and if an appointment is needed, people receive one, which is right for their clinical needs. Where appropriate, people may be signposted to another service – or healthcare…

5G is all over the place. Even if you have no idea what it is, you have probably heard your favorite phone operator bragging about safer and more stable connections, infrastructure, and whatnot. The 5th generation mobile network is supposed to bring more reliable data transfers, with no interruptions, high coverage, low latency, and massive capacity. One thing’s for sure, it is as revolutionary as the internet itself. What many believe is that it will also change the world of gaming. Whether that is true or not, only time will tell. At least that is what Aleksandra Maj claims. This…

Business confidence in Wales rose more than any other nation or region in the UK during November, rising 14 points to 37% , according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Companies in Wales reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up 17 points at 44%.  When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up nine points to 30%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 37%. The Business Barometer, which questions 1,200 businesses monthly, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide. A new balance of 37% of businesses in the region expect to increase staff levels over the next year, up 21 points on last month. Overall, UK business…

It’s National Tree Week – and what better way to mark the occasion than by making a start on a project to plant 5,000 trees all over the National Park?  As part of our celebrations to mark the Snowdonia National Park’s 70th anniversary, this week our Woodlands Officers will make a start on a special project involving planting 5,000 trees all over the National Park – one for each birth and 70thbirthday in Eryri (Snowdonia) this year. Planting 5,000 is quite a challenge, so to help us achieve this goal each Community Council within and around the National Park have…

A new exhibition looking at the impact of climate change has opened at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Swansea College of Art. Alternative Futures brings together a range of multi-media visual responses to the COP26 conference and the climate. The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 13 November 2021. The COP26 summit brought parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The climate emergency is a critical learning opportunity. The nature of this complex problem requires…

A social care leader has urged the minority of vaccine-sceptic care workers in Wales to get fully jabbed as a matter of urgency. According to Mario Kreft MBE, it was a “life or death” decision because of the potential dangers posed by the newly-identified Omicron super variant of Covid-19. The new variant was first reported in South Africa last Wednesday and the early evidence suggests it has a higher re-infection risk. Experts warn that it appears to spread “very rapidly” and that it can be spread between people who are double vaccinated. It’s feared the vaccines could be less effective…

A planning application has been submitted for the first primary school at Cardiff’s ‘garden city for the 21st century’ After experiencing some delays due to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing restrictions, the Plasdŵr development team has been working closely with Cardiff Council on the specification and have submitted for approval the planning application for the construction of the first primary school at Cardiff’s ‘garden city for the 21st century’. The new school is located in Plasdŵr’s Groeswen neighbourhood to the north of the development near Danescourt and Radyr. Plasdŵr’s district centre will also be located in this neighbourhood, making it…

A Caerphilly-based start-up that aims to support small businesses and fledgling freelancers has secured £150k in pre-seed funding from venture capital firm, SFC Capital. Revolancer is an online marketplace that connects businesses with quality-approved freelancers for digital projects, and is hoping to revolutionise recruitment in the digital skills market. The company was founded in January by Karl Swanepoel as a university dorm room project and has previously secured £13k from Aberystwyth University after winning their InvEnterPrize student enterprise competition earlier this year. Investing alongside SFC Capital is Edward Falzon, a Morgan Stanley veteran of 25 years, who will also be…

A holiday park in Borth is hoping to attract more visitors all year round after expanding its site with five new holiday cottages. Cambrian Coast Caravan Park used a six-figure loan from Lloyds Bank to purchase the farmhouse cottages, which are adjacent to its existing camping and static caravan site. The cottages can cater for groups of between two and ten people and are all kitted out with a stylish modern interior, two of which have been specifically tailored to ensure they are wheelchair-accessible. The business hopes to grow its annual turnover by around £150,000, as well as increase the…

New figures reveal the number of cigarette butts littered on Welsh beaches has more than doubled in a year, making Wales the worst nation in Great Britain for cigarette waste on beaches. The Marine Conservation Society 2021 survey of more than 3,500 meters of Welsh coastline show that despite a decline in overall beach litter, cigarette waste has reached an all-time high. The survey found an average of 64.2 cigarette butts per 100 metres of Welsh beach, a stark rise from 32.6 in 2019, and 9.5 in 2020. In response, tobacco control action-group, ASH Wales, and the Marine Conservation Society…