This plan covers all aspects of palliative and end-of-life care, delivered by both primary and secondary sectors, and involves specialist palliative care services delivered by the NHS and third sector providers. This care also involves recognition of the needs of those experiencing bereavement. It builds on the success of the first plan. It’s been updated to reflect the latest strategic and legislative change and has strengthened children and young people and research sections.

We know that care at the end of life has improved greatly since the publication of the first end-of-life care delivery plan in 2013. Consultants in palliative medicine are now available on call 24/7 across Wales to provide advice and support to other professionals, and to visit patients where required, enhancing the service provided by clinical nurse specialists at weekends. And support is now in place for clinical nurse specialist teams to work seven days a week in acute and community settings. This has provided front-line staff with valuable support at weekends, enabling patients who present at hospital with end-of-life care needs to avoid hospital admission where appropriate and allow patients with complex needs to remain at home.

Funding has also been provided to improve access to hospice-at-home provision, and we have introduced primary care palliative registers so that all general practices have a register of all patients with supportive or palliative care needs. In collaboration with Tŷ Hafan children’s hospice, we’ve established a 24-hour out-of-hours telephone advice service for paediatric palliative care, which is now available across Wales.

Dying is, of course, an inevitable event. While I fully appreciate it is not a subject that many people are comfortable talking about, it is vital that people let their loved ones know how they wish to end their days when the time comes. Planning for the end of life through open conversations can result in a better death and certainly help the grieving process for those left behind.

Last week, I attended the Byw Nawr conference and was pleased to officially launch the new website for advance care planning. Today, people find most of their information online and it will be invaluable to have that resource at their fingertips on the internet. We have also provided £150,000 to train staff in advanced communication skills and end-of-life care. This has enabled colleagues to begin and manage serious illness conversations with patients, families and carers. The end-of-life care implementation board, though, provides strong leadership and oversees the delivery of the plan. As is the case with all of our major health conditions, the board receives £1 million annually to support their identified priorities.

As part of the budget agreement with Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Government allocated an additional £1 million for this year, to further enhance end-of-life care provision. The board has provisionally identified that this funding will be used to pursue a Compassionate Communities approach to end-of-life care, for telemedicine, to further roll out the serious illness conversations training to support the development of an all-Wales advance care planning record, and to take forward research priorities and support GP clusters in Wales.

The Welsh Government also provides approximately £6.4 million in funding to support specialist palliative care services provided by hospices and health boards throughout Wales. This significant investment is a reflection of the importance that this Welsh Government places upon end-of-life care. It’s vital that individuals receive the best possible care in the location of their choice at the end of their days.

Direct feedback from patients and their families about specialist palliative care services in Wales has shown that, over the past year, these services make an enormous difference to people’s quality of life in their closing days. During 2015-16, 93 per cent of the responses to the iWantGreatCare patients’ evaluation of their experience of specialist palliative care were positive. The average Welsh score was 9.5 out of 10 across all domains. This would not be possible, of course, without the dedication and professionalism of our workforce. So, I do want to take a moment at this stage to acknowledge the work of our clinicians, nurses and other staff who provide care for people at the end of their lives. There can be fewer jobs more emotionally demanding, yet more necessary. I am sure that Members across the Chamber will join me in recognising and thanking our staff for their work.

But, dying is a social matter. How well we care for people who are dying reflects on how we care as a society. Advances in modern medicine and treatment have resulted in a growing population living longer with incurable diseases. It is vital that good end-of-life and palliative care is made available across Wales. The updated palliative and end-of-life care delivery plan was developed through effective partnership working. That continued co-operation between the Welsh Government, the implementation board, the national health service, professional bodies and the third sector is key to delivering outcomes at a greater pace and with greater impact. We should all recognise that the challenges ahead are many and significant, but we can look forward to the future with a sense of shared direction and confidence.