I don't think we are surprised by Dr Dai Lloyd reminding us that he's a GP, because I think many of us have had informal consultations between debates in the tea room, asking his advice, and very good advice that's been.

As a constituency Assembly Member—and of course there is doctor-patient confidentiality here as well—I took a call from the Aneurin Bevan health board about two years ago to tell me that the doctor at one of the major surgeries serving Bargoed, Bargoed Hall, was closing because the doctor there was retiring, and they were going to rationalise and make the business case for rationalising into one surgery in Bryntirion. I think it's a call that none of us wants to hear as Assembly Members, that a local surgery is closing, because you know that there are people loyal to that surgery and you know that the transfer to another surgery is going to be difficult.

Indeed, it was, because Bryntirion surgery is the other surgery in Bargoed on West Street, and that surgery wasn't running as effectively as it could have been. Indeed, the closure of Bargoed Hall led to an enforced evaluation of the service at Bryntirion, which wasn't delivering effectively for patients. Indeed, the doctor there was reducing his hours over time too. So, we were looking at a running down of the other major surgery in Bargoed.

I was really grateful to the health Minister then, the Cabinet Secretary for health, who came to Bryntirion to talk about some of those problems and how patients were going to be transferred to that surgery. I subsequently had a series of meetings with the Aneurin Bevan health board, which led exactly to this discussion about a new model of care that is described in the primary care model, and that was what was prepared for Bryntirion surgery to build in improvements. That's an ongoing piece of work, but we have seen those improvements.

I don't talk to patients, though, about improved model primary care, because I don't think that describes very well what we're doing. What we are aiming to do is to make sure patients get the care they need quickly and from the appropriate expert. That is what we are talking about when it comes to GP practices and I think it's a lot of what Dr Dai Lloyd outlined.

I completely understand the point made that we do need to invest 11 per cent of the budget in GP services, as the Royal College of General Practitioners has said, but you've got to say, 'Where is that going?' And where it went in Bryntirion, where an increased budget went in Bryntirion, was to recruit a lead GP, Dr Mark Wells, who would then take responsibility for the design of the practice, design the practice himself, and then take responsibility for the running of it. And they did. They were successful in recruiting Dr Wells and he is now running that practice in Bryntirion. I would like to invite the health Minister to come along to see that practice again and see some of the improvements that have happened.

If you go on my Twitter feed, and I wouldn't normally recommend you do, but if you go on my Twitter feed today, you'll see a video that I made, a recording, an interview, with Dr Mark Wells, in which he described three key things that he thought that had been big changes at Bryntirion surgery. The first thing was improved on-the-day access. What they've done is they've put a call centre in the building away from the front reception desk, where patients ring in in privacy and can be dedicated and moved to the correct services. They have open access to other services. That means extended services, exactly those kinds of mental health services, physiotherapy services, practice nurses, and those specific experts that are not necessarily the GP, although you can still see the GP if it's necessary. That was the second: open access to other services. Finally, he said they see better continuity of care. So, from the time you first see your health professional, because of this streamlined service, there is a stronger record and an easier record kept of the plan that each patient has.

He also would like one day, and one day soon, for the practice to be a teaching practice. Why not have Valleys GP practices as teaching practices? A great way to go and learn your trade in a wonderful Valleys community, and Bargoed really is picturesque. If there's any GPs out there, it's a wonderful place to practice.

So, I want to see these changes take place. If I'm going to be critical—. Well, I'm not going to be as critical as Darren Millar, because I think he painted a bleak house and a way over-exaggerated picture of some of the problems. In fact, we are seeing positive change. But, what I would say is, in future, services should be redesigned and remodeled through a plan the Government has and not by necessity, as happened in Bryntirion in Bargoed.