Questions now from the party leaders. The leader of the opposition, Leanne Wood.

Diolch, Lywydd. I wonder whether the First Minister can tell us whether he knows how long it takes to travel from Aberdaron on the Llŷn Peninsula to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd if we assume no traffic and no poor weather.

That would be a journey, I suspect, of some two hours, depending on the traffic, of course.

Yes, that’s about right, First Minister—it’s about two hours. [Interruption.] The reaction to when the First Minister answers a question correctly is very interesting. [Laughter.] First Minister, two hours by ambulance, I’m sure you would agree with me, would be way too long. Now, you may or you may not be aware of proposals to centralise vascular surgery in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, removing it from Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor. Well, actually, it operates across two sites—it operates in Wrexham Maelor as well. Now, this is despite the fact that the service in Ysbyty Gwynedd is one of the best in the world, and it’s not just me saying that—that’s published data showing that. Can you tell us, therefore, First Minister, why your Government is proposing to remove a world-class service from Ysbyty Gwynedd?

Far from it—we want to make sure that there is a specialist centre. It’s happened all across the rest of Wales, and it’s important that people who live in the area of Betsi Cadwaladr do have the ability to have a very strong specialist vascular unit. I think the question is not that there should be a specialised unit, but where it should be placed. And I understand the points that have been made, particularly by her colleague, the Member for Arfon, that further consideration should be given to looking at other sites and not just at Glan Clwyd. But, that said, the community health council have supported the proposals, as I understand, so far. The board will be considering the matter further at its October meeting, and that might be an opportunity for those who are unhappy with the decision so far to make their voices heard.

Just to be clear, First Minister, it’s your Government that will sign off the final decision on this, and we already have an excellent service, and it’s located in Ysbyty Gwynedd. Now, when the Royal Glamorgan Hospital lost its vascular surgery service, other services there became unviable. Now, clinicians have raised serious concerns with me about the safety of imposing urban models of healthcare upon rural areas, and your Government is imposing a one-size-fits-all model right throughout the country. If Ysbyty Gwynedd loses its vascular surgery, it’ll make the medical school in Bangor, which we want, much less viable. It’ll also mean that people from Ynys Môn, Pen Llŷn and other places, travelling far too long for vital limb or life-saving surgery. Will you therefore commit today, First Minister, to protecting the world-class vascular service at Ysbyty Gwynedd?

We want to protect the world-class vascular service for the whole of Betsi Cadwaladr. We’ll consider all the representations that are made, and the health board will consider it next. I have to say, she makes the point about urban solutions in rural areas, and, I’m sorry, but that’s sometimes used as ‘a slightly worse service for rural areas than in urban areas’, and I disagree. I think people living in rural areas should have access to the best services that are available. I remember this argument about colorectal surgery in Bronglais. I remember it—that it was going to leave, that colorectal cancer surgery would leave Bronglais, and, as a result, things would be far worse. They weren’t. They were far better. Survival rates improved dramatically, even though people had to travel to Cardiff, that much is true. So, the board will have to consider these issues very carefully. I understand the point she’s making, and her colleague has made exactly the same points as, of course, as the Member for Arfon, I would expect her to do. The board must consider the points that are being made, and Ministers will consider any representations, but we wouldn’t get away from the fact that there needs to be a specialist centre. The question then is where it should be placed.

On behalf of the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Paul Davies.

First Minister, getting access to a GP is becoming more and more of an issue for communities across Wales, and this is especially so for working people. Can you tell us what percentage of GP surgeries across Wales currently offer appointments after 6 p.m.?

The majority offer appointments at least one evening a week. But could I say to the temporary leader of the Welsh Conservatives that his party today have made announcements that will make it far more difficult to recruit doctors—not just into England, where the announcement was made, but across the whole of the UK? What kind of message does his party give to doctors who want to come to the UK to work when his own Prime Minister says there will be staff here from overseas in the interim period until further numbers of British doctors are able to be trained, and when Damian Green said that doctors are welcome whilst they’re needed—whilst they’re needed. Well, I’m afraid he can’t have it both ways. He can’t on the one hand complain that there aren’t enough doctors when his own party in London is doing all that it can to make sure that doctors don’t come here in the first place.

Well, clearly it’s time that the First Minister takes responsibility for the Welsh NHS. Clearly he wants to talk about England in order to deflect his own failings. So, let me give him the answer to my original question: only 29 per cent of GP surgeries across Wales currently offer appointments after 6 p.m., which is an appalling statistic considering the priority your Government gave to access to GPs in the last Assembly. In the 2011 manifesto, Welsh Labour said it would require GPs to

‘make surgeries more accessible to working people’.

The manifesto also said it would

‘instigate a programme of annual health checks for everyone over the age of 50, led by GPs, practice nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals’.

We’ve heard your Government on countless occasions promise to reform the way people across Wales access everyday health services, yet in 2016 we’ve seen no tangible improvement. Why did you ditch the commitment for face-to-face annual health checks with GPs for everyone over the age of 50?

Well, let’s have some figures. In 2015, 97 per cent—97 per cent—or 440 practices, offered appointments at any time between 5 and 6.30 in the evening on at least two weekdays. That’s the reality: the same percentage as 2014. That is the reality of the figures. I don’t know where his figures come from.

Well, I don’t know where the First Minister is getting his figures from, and he didn’t answer the second question about why he ditched the health checks for over-50s.

Now, your recent programme for government said it will again improve access to GP surgeries, making it easier to get an appointment. Well, the people of Wales have heard all this before, from you and from previous Labour Governments. Clearly, you’ve failed to improve the situation over the last five years. Why on earth should the people of Wales trust you this time? So, if your Government wants to improve accessibility to GP surgeries, what strategic benchmarks will you now put in place to improve accessibility by 2021, given that you’ve published no targets whatsoever in the current programme for government?

We’ve delivered, and the people of Wales recognised that in May. He’s no different to his leader. It’s like watching a fly constantly batting itself into a window and not making any progress at all. Well, let me help you with some more figures. In 2015, 82 per cent—373 practices—were open for daily core hours of 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. Monday to Friday—an increase from 80 per cent in 2014, on top of—on top of—the access that I mentioned earlier on. The reality is he’s got his figures wrong, and we delivered on our promises.

The leader of the UKIP group, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. First Minister, last week at the Labour Party conference, Diane Abbott, the shadow health Secretary at Westminster, said that the people who voted for Brexit did so because largely they want to see less foreign people on the streets. Does he not think that this is a slander on the 62 per cent of people in Blaenau Gwent who voted for Brexit, the 60 per cent in Torfaen, and, indeed, the 55 per cent in Bridgend who voted for Brexit?

Well, I can’t answer for comments made by other people. What I can say is that I don’t think people voted to see doctors deported, which is what the Tories want to do today.

No doctor is going to be deported. That’s an absurd thing to say. But they certainly wouldn’t be—[Interruption.] They certainly wouldn’t be—[Interruption.] They certainly wouldn’t be—[Interruption.] They certainly wouldn’t be deported under a Labour Government because it’s clear from the Labour Party conference that the Labour Party doesn’t believe in any serious immigration controls at all. Indeed, Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman said that he was relaxed about the prospect of higher immigration and doesn’t believe in reducing it. Mr Corbyn’s aides apparently said that it’s not an objective to reduce immigration and that Jeremy Corbyn believes the best way to deal with immigration across Europe is to harmonise wages in every country. Considering that the average wage in Romania is £100 a week and in Bulgaria is £80 a week, does the First Minister think that this is a sensible policy for controlling immigration?

Well, I see now the leader of UKIP is quick to defend the Tories. I mean, Damian Green was asked several times—I saw it—by Andrew Neil, ‘Are you saying that doctors will be deported?’, and he just wouldn’t answer the question. What he said was, ‘They’re welcome whilst they’re necessary’. Then, of course, he went on to say, ‘Well, of course, under a Labour Government there wouldn’t be any deportation’, as if that was a bad thing—a bad thing. He wants to see deportations, it seems to me.

The reality is that we in Wales offer a welcome to doctors. We offer a welcome to people who come and live in our country on an annual basis. We’d even offer him a welcome, if he chose to live in Wales, as well. [Laughter.]

I didn’t realise that the First Minister was an extremist. [Assembly Members: ‘Oh’.] There is no possibility of anybody being deported from Wales or the United Kingdom as a result of Brexit, because, as the First Minister well knows, the rights of those who are already here are protected under Britain’s existing treaty obligations that are not relevant to the EU. What matters is that we take into this country in future those who we need and we can choose who comes here. And that is the essence of any sovereign nation’s power.

If it was thought that offering him a welcome, if he chose to live in Wales, was the mark of an extremist, then I apologise in that regard, but he is nevertheless welcome to live in our country if he so chooses to do so. But one thing I can say to him is: we need doctors. There is no health service anywhere in the developed world that doesn’t recruit doctors from other countries. The reality is a quarter of our medical staff come from overseas, and the message that’s been given today is, ‘If you’re not from the UK, don’t come to the UK, you’re not welcome, because if you get a job you’ll lose that job as soon as somebody else comes forward, even though it might take 10 or 15 years to do so’. We will continue to recruit good doctors for the health service in Wales whilst others try to create a situation where fewer and fewer doctors are available to treat our people.