I'd like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this important debate today. Our NHS is facing unprecedented demand. In the past 12 months, there were well over a million visits to A&E departments around Wales. Over four in 10 of us find it difficult to make a GP appointment and operations are routinely cancelled due to a lack of beds. While the Choose Well campaign is a step in the right direction, it is going to take much longer to totally re-educate the Welsh public. It is so ingrained in the public’s mindset that when they get ill they need to see a doctor that convincing them that, sometimes, a community pharmacist is a much better option is going to take a long, long time. When you couple this mindset with the fact that it is getting harder to see a GP because of underfunding and over work, it is no wonder that people inappropriately turn up at the A&E department.

We have to be bold if we're going to ensure that ambulances queuing outside our A&E departments are a thing of the past. We have to be bold if we're going to ensure that our hard-working NHS staff no longer feel that they're working in a war zone. And we have to be bold if we're going to ensure our NHS has a future. We know that over a third of those attending A&E would be more appropriately dealt with elsewhere in the NHS, which is why I wholeheartedly support both the BMA and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which have suggested we look at co-location of primary care services and the use of front-door physicians. We also have to look at introducing a single point gateway service that can funnel people to the appropriate service. The 111 service is a step in the right direction, but it needs to be rolled out faster and have a much wider remit.

We have limited resources in terms of doctors and nurses, and quite often a patient can be seen faster and receive the same level of care by seeing an allied health professional. Why take up a GP’s valuable time to issue a sick note, when an occupational therapist could deal with this request? Why see a doctor about a cold when the pharmacist can provide you with the best treatment option? As I highlighted earlier, this will require a complete mindset change from the general public, which is why we have to help them make the right choices. Adverts will only get us so far. We have to introduce a system of triaging patients, and I believe that the 111 service has the potential to be that system. Make it a one-stop shop for the NHS and help ensure that patients get the best treatment at the right time by signposting them to the most appropriate service.

Our NHS can’t afford another bad winter leading to a bad spring and a worse summer. We have to act now and take the bold steps needed to relieve the pressures on the system. Diolch yn fawr.