8. What action will the Welsh Government take to improve cancer survival rates in 2020? OAQ54818

Llywydd, these actions are set out in the cancer delivery plan for Wales. They include a focus on early detection and the introduction of a single cancer pathway. In that way, we can continue to improve cancer survival rates in Wales.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. The fact is that diagnosing people at the earliest stage is critical to giving patients the best chance of surviving cancer. However, all but one health board in Wales are struggling to recruit and retain radiographers. Approximately one in 10 nurse endoscopy posts are vacant, with some boards having to bring in teams from England to clear backlogs. First Minister, what action are you taking to increase the clinical training places in line with present and future patient need in Wales, please?

Llywydd, I said earlier, in answer to another question, that the Welsh Government has now, for six years in a row, invested every year more money in the training of our clinical and professions allied to medicine, so that we have the workforce that we need here in Wales. That certainly includes an increase in the number of radiographers in training.

But, as well as having more people coming into training, you also have to create the conditions in which those people are able to exercise and to develop their skills, so that they are able to do the very skilled and necessary work in the health service. That's why we have created a digital academy here in Wales, in the Cwm Taf area. It provides a place where radiography can be not simply improved in terms of the numbers of people going into it, but where we are able to create the conditions in which that very specialist skill, which is developing over time, will be done differently in the future, where the workforce of the future can be created.   

Thank you, First Minister.