Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. Neurological conditions affect tens of thousands of people in Wales and this latest delivery plan will hopefully build upon the improvements made to the services designed to assist those people. While a number of neurological conditions present at birth, a large number can present at any time in life. It is therefore important that we raise awareness of these conditions, not only among the professionals, but also amongst the general public, as recognising the signs early will lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment. I welcome the emphasis the Welsh Government is placing upon improving awareness in this delivery plan. As the plan highlights, many neurological conditions have symptoms that can be mistaken for more common conditions, leading to misdiagnosis. Training primary care staff and healthcare teams to recognise the signs of neurological conditions will hopefully reduce the number of delayed or misdiagnosed patients.

Cabinet Secretary, the key actions for timely diagnosis require health boards to provide GPs with timely and direct access to CT scans. I very much welcome this move, but am concerned that we are not making the best use of diagnostic equipment. In many areas, CT scanners are not utilised 24/7. What is your Government doing to ensure that we have sufficient diagnostic staff to make use of our scanners at evenings and weekends?

One of the central pillars of the new delivery plan is ensuring fast, effective, safe care and rehabilitation. We have made a lot of progress in this area, particularly when it comes to approving new medicines for the treatment of neurological conditions, but we are taking too long in getting that treatment to patients. For example, MS patients had to wait nearly two years after Sativex was approved before they could receive it as the clinics needed to administer the drugs were not available.

Many of the new treatments in the pipeline for neurological conditions require monitoring and have to be administered in an outpatient clinic. In Cardiff, there is a six-week waiting list for drug infusions. Cabinet Secretary, what can your Government do to ensure that LHBs plan for the sufficient day beds needed to administer drugs, so there is no delay between approval by NICE or AWMSG and the treatment being available to patients?

Rehabilitation is vital to ensure that patients with neurological conditions—emergency admissions to hospital—. Unfortunately, waiting times for neurology rehabilitation are far too long. Cabinet Secretary, what is your Government doing to reduce waiting times for neuro rehab in Wales?

I fully support the direction you are taking with this latest plan, and look forward to working with you to ensure that we improve the outcomes for Welsh patients suffering with neurological conditions. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much.