Diolch, Llywydd. I'm pleased to move the motion tabled in the name of Paul Davies. We recognise the immense contribution made to our society by the health and social care sectors, and we want to demonstrate the need for integrated workforce planning, and put forward ideas on how to improve the recruitment and training of staff. Today's debate has four key aims, as set out in our motion. Cabinet Secretary, I am sure you will join the Welsh Conservatives in recognising the vital contribution made by Wales's health and social care workforce, and I'm sure that you will agree that a valued, supported and healthy workforce will be key in driving forward the transformation that NHS Wales needs to be sustainable in the future. However, when we asked you, the Welsh Government, to publish a comprehensive, integrated strategy for Wales's health and social care workforce by January 2019, you appeared to cavil. And, again, our point 4: you appear to be baulking at the idea of supporting the NHS workforce by implementing priority access to treatment for NHS workers. Sure, we must make sure that we have in place the right people in the right places in order to effect the transformation that we need.

Now, I know that, across this Chamber, Members will acknowledge the vital contribution that Wales's health and social care workforce makes to our nation, and, if any of you haven't had direct experience of their care, I'm sure most of us will have had loved ones who've made use of the services they provide. However, all too often, staff feel underappreciated, under pressure and voiceless in an environment that is more about finances and politics, and less about patients and staff. And we want to pay tribute to this workforce, from the consultant undertaking the operation through to the nursing team, all the way to the cleaners and catering staff who manage to keep our NHS operating.

In its seventieth year, let's just take a brief look at what the NHS does in Wales on an annual basis. Last year, the Welsh NHS was there when over—well, in fact, I'll give you the exact number—when 33,729 mothers gave birth. And, in 2016-17, over 8,500 people were supported by mental health services. In 2017-18, an average of 93,000 people went to accident and emergency departments. That's 1 million people a year supported by our NHS, and I'm sure that you will agree with me that this figure reinforces the value of the NHS to Welsh people. However, it does not mean that the operation of the NHS is beyond improvement or challenge, and, Cabinet Secretary, you've been very quick in the past to dismiss our comments on this side of the Chamber by saying we're talking down the NHS and diminishing the efforts that the staff put in. You could not be further from the truth. We all value the NHS. When the chips are down, it is there for you.

Turning the clock back 70 years, Henry Willink, Nye Bevan and the other architects of the national health service would never have envisaged the role it's playing today, and it's worth stressing that however much money is spent on maintaining machines, upgrading equipment, providing sparkling new buildings, the common denominator remains the members of staff. We need staff to administer the machines, read the x-rays, care for the sick, clean the floors. Without them, the NHS would cease to operate, and that's why it's so important that we get to grips with ensuring that the well-being and health of our NHS staff is truly prioritised. The latest set of figures surrounding NHS sickness absences for the quarter up to December 2017 saw a rise in absence nationally of over 5.5 per cent. What concerns me more, however, is how the figures differ so greatly between staff groups. So, for example, the Welsh ambulance service records a sick rate that is well above the average.

Last year, I highlighted the extent to which mental illness is affecting NHS staff. The figures then showed that close to 8,000 staff members accumulated nearly 350,000 days of absence due to anxiety, stress and depression, and this was the equivalent of 948 years—an unbelievable figure, almost—lost to mental health illness over the course of one year. Figures from the Royal College of General Practitioners survey last year showed that severe workforce pressures mean that the well-being of many GPs is suffering. Almost one in three Welsh GPs are so stressed they feel they cannot cope at least once a week. And other survey results by Mind Cymru found that 35 per cent of GPs had personal experience of a mental health problem, while 12 per cent said they use, or have used, mental health services on a consistent basis.