Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, for calling me to speak in this very important debate on the Petition Committee's report on the routine screening for type 1 diabetes in children and young people. Firstly, like everybody else, I'd like to thank my constituent Beth Baldwin for all the hard work she's put into getting this petition to the point where we're debating it now here in the Assembly. I know it's been a long hard road for her, and the tragic circumstances in which she lost Peter, who was just 13 when he died, I know, have been—. It's from that we are here debating this issue here today. I know that Stuart and Lia are also here, because this has been a huge effort by this family. I'm so glad that they're here in the public gallery today to hear us debating these very important issues. I hope these will be preventative—we will help prevent something happening that's happened so terribly to them. I'm sure that the Cabinet Secretary, when he replies, will agree that Beth and her family have shown amazing courage in campaigning on this issue. 

Peter had type 1 diabetes, but the diagnosis, as others have said, was missed by the GP and, by the time his condition had deteriorated so much that it was an emergency, it was sadly too late to save him. What Beth and the people at Diabetes Cymru and the Children and Young People's Wales Diabetes Network want is quite simple: they want any medical professional or anyone who comes into contact with an ill young person to stop and think, 'Do the symptoms point to type 1 diabetes?' I think Dai Lloyd raised that very strongly in his contribution. 

I know that Beth and the campaigners are pleased that the Government has accepted or accepted in principle all the recommendations in the committee's report. I think it's important to recognise that it is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases and its incidence is increasing. I think there is an average of one child per school in Wales that has this condition, and the number is rising by about 4 per cent each year, and rising more rapidly in children under five. Beth and the campaigners would like to see health visitors, physiotherapists, GPs and practice nurses carry out the routine simple finger-prick test to see blood glucose levels. At the moment, 25 per cent of cases of type 1 in children are diagnosed in an emergency. With more routine testing, I'm sure that we would all agree that the figure must decrease. 

They want to know that there are enough blood glucose testing kits for these people to routinely test unwell people, so we need to know that those kits are there, and I'm pleased to see that the Welsh Government accepts recommendation 3 of the report on this point. Yes, guidance about testing at the point of care has been issued, and this has been reiterated as part of the referral pathway, but who is tasked with monitoring the availability of blood glucose testing equipment, not just as a one-off but on an ongoing basis? Who will they report to, and will this information be publicly available? I don't know if the Cabinet Secretary would be able to answer those questions.

Do we know how many GP practices currently do not have the equipment they need to carry out the single test and analyse the results? I've heard anecdotal evidence that, even now, GP practices sometimes struggle to find the testing equipment. It may be in the back of a cupboard. Test strips may be out of date, or staff haven't done a test in such a long time that they're not confident in using the equipment. So, I think we've got to make absolutely sure—we've made such a lot of progress, but we've got to make sure that, practically, it is possible to carry out the test in the way that the campaigners want. 

So, the other issue is, in terms of when things go wrong, who is accountable? I think that, through this debate, through this very good report from the Petitions Committee, we have been able to highlight these issues that are so important, and I'd really like to end, really, once again by thanking Beth, thanking Stuart and Lia, for all that they've done for taking this cause forward—so, diolch yn fawr.