You have stated as fact, again, as the record will show, that there has been an increase in doctor numbers in Wales. One of the further facts that we found interesting is that one particular speciality has seen an extra 207 doctors in the past year. That particular speciality, although listed as a hospital speciality, is in fact ‘general practice (doctors in training)’.

Now, we asked for clarification on what that means, and it does in fact refer to trainee doctors in general practice, not specialist consultants working in hospitals. And the reason for such a large increase was down to the fact that, previously, GPs in training who rotated into a GP surgery would be employed by the surgery, and therefore leave the NHS Wales payroll, and so wouldn’t appear on StatsWales figures. Now, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership have become the lead employer for GPs in training. So, they do appear in the figures. This is the reason why the numbers have gone up. Without that change in the way stats on the workforce are recorded, the figures would actually have shown a decline of 84 hospital doctors. In fact, six of the seven health boards in Wales have shown a decline in the number of hospital doctors they employ. We also know that there has been a fall in the head count of GPs, and it would be even worse if you published the full-time equivalent numbers. Does the Cabinet Secretary now accept that it is misleading of your party to claim that we have a record number of consultants and doctors?