It is also a pleasure for me to participate in this debate on St David’s Day, reflecting the fact that we’re commemorating the death of Dewi on this day in the year 589—some 1,500 years ago. This nation’s history goes back a long way and it’s still reflected in our language, our art and our faith. And, yes, it is a day of national pride and I’m going to follow the same route. I reminded you of some of the pillars of our history in the previous debate, and I might as well continue where I left off in the last debate.

But, specifically in health, over the years before the days of the NHS, Wales had innovated in this area: Meddygon Myddfai—the Medics of Myddfai—were innovative in this area in medieval times. Myddfai is a small village now, but many hundreds of years ago, it led the medical world in these isles. Much of that history has been lost, but there was huge innovation happening hundreds of years ago in medicine here.

A little later on—about a century and a half ago—we see Hugh Owen Thomas and his nephew, Robert Jones, innovating in the area of bone surgery, and Robert Jones is recognised these days on a global level as the father of orthopaedics. He shaped orthopaedics initially and he is recognised globally as the leader and founder of orthopaedics.

Of course, we have heard the history of the creation of the NHS and we continue to be extremely proud of the contribution that Wales made to the health service. And, of course, if we come forward a little further again, in the year 2007, Professor Sir Martin Evans of Cardiff University won a Nobel prize in medicine on the basis of his innovative research in stem cells and DNA.

Sometimes it’s difficult for people in our nation to think, ‘Well, what’s Wales ever contributed? I don’t know what’s going on. Who’s been innovative and who’s been confident and successful?’ Well, there’s a list and I could go on, but naturally I can’t go on all afternoon, so I’m going to stop listing names now. But it’s enough to note that there are very exciting developments happening now in medicine in our universities and in our medical schools. Our medical schools—we have two now, one in Cardiff and one in Swansea—are producing bright junior doctors. Of course, they could produce more. At the moment, less than 20 per cent of our medical students in Welsh medical schools come from Wales. No other country works in that way. Over half of the medical students in Scotland come from Scotland and over 80 per cent of medical students in medical schools in England come from England, and yet we are operating at a level of 12 per cent of students in Cardiff and Swansea coming from Wales. Well, we’re supposed to be producing doctors for our future, but we’re not producing enough and that is why we need a new medical school in Bangor too, so that we can produce more bright junior doctors for our nation. Yes, we are proud of our health service, but the system is under huge pressure. We need to employ more doctors and nurses and so on, and we need to train more doctors and nurses in the first place, and, of course, we need to provide the most modern diagnostic technology, which is available—[Interruption.]—but it is exceptionally expensive.

And, of course, we need an alternative vision of a health service that is focused on the community—[Interruption.] Yes, a community that is digitally connected. The Minister is clearly innovating in that area too. [Laughter.] That reminds us that we can do great things in our health service digitally too. I’m pleased that the Minister reminded us of that, because that also assists primary care. And I want to see more specialists in our hospitals coming into the community to work, to break down these barriers between hospitals and primary care, and—yes, it’s been said a number of times—health and social care collaborating more closely.

So, to conclude, yes, we are proud of our health service. We are proud of all of the innovation that has happened in the past, which is happening now, and will continue to happen in the future. We are determined to keep our comprehensive health service and to keep it in the public domain here in Wales. But we do need changes to provide the best possible services for our people, using the talent that we clearly have. Thank you.