Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:56 pm on 18 September 2019.
Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’ve only got a brief amount of time left. Could I congratulate and thank everyone for taking part in this very important debate? Angela Burns, first, setting out the challenge—we need actions and solutions now. And, of course, to say the obvious thing: we need more specialist staff and more endoscopy units now to tackle this challenge.
I’m very grateful to Hefin David for setting out his recent experience, and also for saying that there are other diseases that we should be thinking about, not just bowel cancer, but also Crohn's and ulcerative colitis and so forth, and the importance of preparing bowels for colonoscopies in the first place, because we forget about preparing the most basic things.
I also thank Caroline Jones for emphasising the pressure on services and the importance of early diagnosis. Also, I thank the Minister for his positive response to the recommendation by the committee. We’re looking forward to seeing the action plan seeing the light of day. The challenge is significant, and the challenge requires a robust response now. Thank you very much.