Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very pleased to move this amendment and to speak in this debate. I do believe that workforce planning and responding to the problem of a staff shortage, or the crisis of a staff shortage in some areas of the service, are some of the most important matters that face us as we try to plan an NHS that truly answers the needs of the people of Wales. I welcome the opportunity once again to outline the positive vision of Plaid Cymru for recruitment within the NHS—we are the only party, I believe, that has consistently been underlining the need for additional doctors specifically, but also other health practitioners.

This debate is a very timely one, too, because it comes as the BMA has warned again about a recruitment crisis amongst GPs, with 20 practices having been returned to the care of health boards in the past year alone. And the facts speak for themselves: Wales has the lowest number of doctors per head of population of any UK nation. And, yes, we’ve heard the Government mention an increase in the number of GPs, but what we’ve seen is more working part-time—a greater headcount, perhaps, as we heard from the Conservatives, but not more full-time GP posts. That’s decreasing and that’s entirely clear.

There’s a concern, of course, about what will come in coming years, with over 23 per cent of the workforce aged over 55, and that figure increasing to a frightening level of 50 per cent in areas such as the south Wales Valleys. The Wales Deanery has noted that the target for recruitment for GP training is lower in Wales than it is in the rest of the UK nations, and that target was set a decade ago. So, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see some of these problems that we’re facing today.

This is happening, of course, at a time when surgeries—nine out of 10 of them, according to BMA research—say that demand for their appointments is increasing. This isn’t sustainable, and I hope that everyone here in the Chamber today is agreed on that.

Let us also look at district nurses. According to the RCN, if the current decline in numbers continues then we won’t have any district nurses in as little as five years’ time. The number of district nurses has decreased from 876 to 519 full-time posts in a period of five years.

We’ll move on from primary care. Recruitment problems are one of the main causes of loss of services in general hospitals over the past few years. According to BMA figures, again, we believe that over 10 per cent of specialists in Wales are locums. We know what the cost of that is, too, as well as the uncertainty caused. That figure of 10 per cent is over double the level in England. We need to recruit, we need to be innovative in doing so, we need to offer incentives, financial and otherwise, and we also need to look at questions such as medical indemnity.

I will make my last comments on what we specifically call for in our amendment today.

Mae ein gwelliant heddiw yn ymwneud â’r angen hirdymor i hyfforddi cenhedlaeth newydd o feddygon a nyrsys. Nid yw hynny’n golygu, wrth gwrs, nad oes mesurau tymor byr y dymunwn eu gweld yn cael eu rhoi ar waith yn awr. Mae recriwtio o’r tu allan i Gymru i hyfforddiant meddygol yn hanfodol wrth gwrs, ond mae’n rhaid i ni hyfforddi mwy o feddygon a nyrsys o Gymru yng Nghymru. Nid ni’n unig sy’n dweud hyn; mae’r arbenigwyr yn y maes yn ei ddweud. Mae angen i ni wneud hynny yn ein canolfannau hyfforddi presennol a chanolfan newydd ym Mangor hefyd. Mae meddygon sy’n hyfforddi yng Nghymru yn fwy tebygol o aros yng Nghymru. Mae meddygon o Gymru sy’n hyfforddi yng Nghymru yn bendant yn llawer mwy tebygol o aros yng Nghymru. Edrychwch ar y ffigurau gan Goleg Brenhinol y Meddygon, sy’n cytuno’n llwyr â ni ar yr angen am hyfforddiant meddygol yma yng Nghymru: dim ond 30 y cant o fyfyrwyr mewn ysgolion meddygol yng Nghymru sy’n dod o Gymru, o gymharu â 55 y cant yn yr Alban, 80 y cant yn Lloegr ac 85 y cant yng Ngogledd Iwerddon. A byddem yn cefnogi system gwota. Mae cwotâu wedi gweithio’n dda wrth gynyddu recriwtio i ardaloedd gwledig mewn llawer o wledydd, gan gynnwys Awstralia. Mae cangen meddygon teulu Deoniaeth Cymru a llawer o academyddion sydd eisoes yn gweithio yn ein hysgolion meddygol yn cefnogi cwotâu, ac rydym am gyrraedd y pwynt lle gall unrhyw fyfyriwr o Gymru sydd â’r graddau academaidd gofynnol astudio meddygaeth yng Nghymru os yw’n dymuno. Fe ildiaf.