Like others, with the exception, perhaps, of the Conservative spokesperson, I want to welcome the publication of this plan, and there’s much to be welcomed in it. I think one of the things that scares Darren Millar is the sheer scale of the ambition alongside the vision of a primary healthcare sector that is coherent and that treats a range of conditions and illnesses at the most local level. It’s what we need to be able to do.

I agree with the breadth of this approach, but also its focus—a focus on proactive well-being, a whole system rooted in that focus, and the empowerment of knowledge that the model seeks to describe. However, we need to deliver it, and the point that’s just been made by my colleague the Member for Merthyr and Rhymney speaks about the time it’s taking in order to deliver on this vision. And I believe that we do need to ensure that we are able to deliver this in a timely way.

I speak to constituents on a regular basis who are concerned and worried about the move away from the familiar, single-handed surgery to a cross-disciplinary centre for primary care. I share their concerns and I share their worries. What we need to be able to do is to make the case that Dai Lloyd made very well—that the GP is not the only answer, but accessing the sort of primary care that is appropriate for their needs. This demands—and the plan recognises this—an informed public and what it describes as empowered communities being the basis for delivering on that vision. In fact, an informed public is described as critical to the success of the overarching vision.

I agree with this, but I would go further. I would say that confidence in the system, and the confidence of people and communities in the services they receive, is also essential to the delivery of the vision, and essential to the delivery of a proactive well-being system and not simply a reactive illness system. All too often we see a public that does not feel sufficiently informed and empowered to access these services easily. A public that does not understand the changes being made and the reasons that lie behind those changes. This lack of understanding disempowers people and undermines confidence in the changes and the investments that are being made.

Now, this is a time in Blaenau Gwent when we are seeing fantastic investment in our national health service. We've had the focus on the Grange university health system down in Cwmbran, which I fully support, and, as the Minister knows, I think the changes will transform health in the south-east region. But we also need to see, and we have seen, investment in Brynmawr, and the plans for a new well-being centre on the site of the general hospital in Tredegar. I think it's absolutely fantastic to be discussing investing in twenty-first century care on the site of the old cottage hospital established by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society just over a century ago. In the same way as this became a model for the NHS, so this new model of care needs to come home to Tredegar. Bevan wanted to 'Tredegarise' Britain; now it's time for the people of Tredegar to have the same coherence and quality of care as we wanted to share with the people of Britain 70 years ago.

But we have to have the confidence, Minister, that that investment will make a real difference, and will lead to an increase in the quality of care. We know that in Brynmawr this has not been the case. We know that people, if they are unable to access the doctor, access an appointment with the primary care system, do not feel empowered—they feel disempowered, and they feel a lack of confidence in the system. We need to ensure—. It's many years—. Dawn Bowden spoke about the number of health Ministers that have perhaps passed in the time the south Wales system has been under review, but I'm old enough to remember Sir Jeremy Beecham and citizen-centred services. I think it's time that we did actually being to deliver these and not simply deliver the visions and the speeches. So I think we do need to ensure that we're able to do it.

The final point I'd like to make is this: it's about equality and access. We lost Julian Tudor Hart last year, and we lost his vision of the inverse care law, but I hope we haven't lost the focus on it. I'm concerned to ensure—. We understand that poverty is a determinant of health outcomes, and we also know it's a determinant of some of the health issues in any community. I also want to ensure that it drives spending, that it drives the investment that we see. I want to ensure and I want to understand that we do have the GPs, that we do have the health facilities in the communities that need them most. We need to have equality and access, and equality in terms of class and in terms of geography. All too often, I don't believe we appreciate that.

So, I look forward to the modernisation of primary care. I fully support the Government's vision and the vision that has been outlined by the Minister today. I hope what we'll see is the delivery of this vision and the building of confidence in the communities that we seek to serve.