Not at the moment, no. Many of the submissions to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee identified workforce planning and staff shortages as a key issue for our care services all year round.

However, what we do have in Wales is a Government that is prepared to allocate additional funding and introduce legislation and initiatives to tackle the challenges facing us. Other common themes amongst the evidence that was submitted to the committee included the potential for pharmacists and other care staff to free up GP services and the need for greater integration of health and social care.

Now, in my constituency, Cwm Taf health board were part of a successful pilot scheme where GPs actively triaged patients to pharmacy where appropriate. The Welsh Government has committed to a further roll-out of the Choose Pharmacy scheme across other parts of Wales. I think it’s worth noting that this is in stark contrast to England where the Westminster Government announced a cut in funding available to pharmacies there. Significantly, we have £60 million being invested in the pioneering intermediate care fund, which those giving evidence to the committee identified as being vital to relieving the everyday pressures on our health services.

So, what we can evidence here in Wales are measures to tackle the issues that present real challenges to the NHS all year round but which are exacerbated during winter months. I’ve referred to some of those initiatives already but other measures include the nurse staffing levels Act; the extension of the bursaries for student nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, which, of course, has been scrapped by the Tories in England; investing in primary care with a primary care and workforce plan backed by £43 million; GP practices being offered access to a new support package; promoting the Choose Well campaign to try and alleviate the pressures on emergency services; an extra £50 million to deal with the increased demand in winter months; and ensuring health boards, local authorities and the Wales ambulance service have updated and integrated winter plans. All these initiatives are about longer-term solutions to the challenges faced by our health and care services, and are an integral part of the additional £50 million announced by the health Secretary to help deal with those winter pressures. We should always recognise, of course, that, with all of these initiatives, they would not produce the desired impact if they were not underpinned by the tremendous dedication of all those staff working in our health and care services—