Cabinet Secretary, despite your own evidence in our committee about winter pressures and how they impact upon the NHS in Wales, we never seem to learn from these experiences; we always seem to be caught on the hop, as though winter pressure was something new. The word 'unprecedented' appears to come out every time, as if this word excuses the very fact that we are not learning from past experiences.

The additional £10 million is, of course, welcome, but I want to ask you, Cabinet Secretary, how was the £50 million spent in combating this situation that happens almost at this time every year? What lessons year on year regarding winter pressures are being learned, and how are they being acted upon? We hear again that flu outbreaks have added to the pressure, which, of course, they would, but, again, flu is not new to our country at this time of the year. We expect it—it gets colder—and flu to be partly a consequence of this. It happens the same time every year and we must be prepared for this.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine stated that emergency departments in Welsh hospitals felt like a battlefield to staff. We know that A&E attendances topped 1 million. But why, when we are encouraging people to use pharmacies, for example, are they still turning up at A&E? Is this because they cannot get the GP appointments that they feel they need and that A&E is now becoming the alternative?

What discussions will you be having with both primary care and secondary care staff to gain an insight into the situation we find ourselves in? What proportion of these A&E admissions could have been dealt with by other means, such as pharmacy and GP visits? Were the hospital staff in these departments prepared and of full complement? 

You state that NHS organisations have been planning for this period since the end of last winter—supported by the £50 million of funding to help them balance urgent and planned care activity—yet we do not still have sufficient beds or staff to cope with this situation. How can we plan for next year so that we are not cancelling operations for patients that could lead to them needing additional treatment because of this delay, which has a knock-on effect on cost of course, because they cost more in the long run, or they possibly could? What strategy do you have planned for next year—