Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:57 pm on 15 June 2016.
I thank the Member for the question. One of the points I’ll make is that, on life sciences and the life sciences industry, we’ve actually got a good record on seeing development here, and the proton beam developments that could take place in south-east Wales are being led by the private sector, and that could lead to improved access in the NHS here in Wales but also potentially improve costs as well. We could actually see people coming in from other parts of England to use a service there. So, the commissioning will be important, and I look forward to having constructive conversations on the life sciences industry with my colleague Julie James, the Minister for Skills and Science.
On your broader point about workforce planning, of course there is an issue here about making sure we have the right workforce, equipped with the right skills to undertake the right care in the right place at the right time, and I’m really pleased to remind Members of the decision made at the end of the last Assembly, by my predecessor, on medical training. We will train more nurses than ever before, and more radiologists than ever before, so, we recognise where we need to have more people coming into the service with the right skills to deliver the sort of modern healthcare service that we need. It is doctors, it is nurses, and a whole range of other professions who are needed to ensure that we can deliver the sort of service that all of us wish to see.