I had also the fortune to meet with representatives of the British Society for Rheumatology and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society in the Pierhead building recently, and I thank David Melding for bringing forward this debate. I was struck by the points made to me, and that, with a population of over 2 million and over 400,000 children in south Wales, there is a strong case to be made for a full multidisciplinary paediatric rheumatology service. Inevitably, with this historic lack of current provision in Wales, many children are travelling real distances to access paediatric rheumatology, with children travelling to centres in England, such as Bristol and Birmingham. Nobody can believe that this is ideal or necessary, let alone desired.

Earlier this year, the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee confirmed that they will be undertaking, as has been said by many Members, a comprehensive review of paediatric specialised services for the Welsh population, and that the review will include that assessment of paediatric rheumatology, and I very much welcome this move. It is important that we do base our decision on evidence. This is the way that has been said that we can ensure the precious resources for the national health service in Wales, which are not finite, can be properly targeted to meet the cascading and ever-widening needs of the Welsh nation.

Only last night, BBC Wales’s flagship news show, ‘Wales Today’, highlighted this fundamental issue, and, with the growth in diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other conditions, an interim review of health and social care, chaired by Dr Ruth Hussey, has highlighted the Welsh national health service’s funding challenges moving forward in Wales.

The Cabinet Secretary for health, Vaughan Gething AM, yesterday said in this very Chamber that he expected the review and the Welsh Government’s response to it to form the direction of travel for the next decade. Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, a review panel member, stated that the Welsh NHS needs to meet the demands of the people of Wales like Aneurin Bevan advocated at the very beginning.

I sincerely hope and ask that the clear demand for paediatric rheumatology services in Wales can be met with a tailored response that the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee can recommend and, as such, I will strongly support such an outcome.