Today's debate is the chance to send a strong message of support in favour of retaining A&E at Royal Glamorgan Hospital; to show just how many people will be affected by these health board proposals; to show just how important it is that the health board thinks again and instead brings to the table strong, safe and sustainable solutions.

I have co-submitted amendment 4 to put on the record my opposition to the closure of the A&E unit at the Royal Glamorgan. For my constituents living in Cilfynydd, Glyncoch and Ynysybwl, patient flows are towards the Royal Glamorgan. Closure of its A&E would have a clear and incontrovertible impact on their ability to access emergency healthcare.

From the number of people sending e-mails, joining social media groups, signing up to the statement of support for the Royal Glamorgan Hospital A&E issued jointly by Labour and Plaid Cymru politicians and a range of trade unions, people attending public meetings across the health board footprint, rallying outside the Senedd earlier today, we can clearly see the passionate attachment that members of the local community have to retaining the service, to making sure the people who need to use that service can access a consultant-led A&E service within their own local community.

Closure also simply doesn't make sense. For example, during 2019, the A&E service at the Royal Glamorgan was attended by nearly 64,000 people. That's over 2,000 more than Prince Charles Hospital, and 4,500 more than the Princess of Wales. While it would be iniquitous to pit one hospital against another, it is only fair to recognise that the Royal Glamorgan has the busiest A&E department in Cwm Taf Morgannwg, and it also performs extremely well. Using four, eight and 12-hour indicators, the Royal Glamorgan Hospital's A&E consistently records the highest percentage of patients being seen within less than the target waiting times. Its figures are also above the all-Wales averages for treating patients. Moreover, closure of A&E services there would increase pressure on other A&E departments, not just in Cwm Taf Morgannwg, but potentially further afield. I mentioned the A&E department in the Royal Glamorgan seeing 64,000 people in 2019. Well, let's break that down. That's over 5,000 people a month, or 166 people a day.

The health board is proposing that these people are to be seen in its other district general hospitals, but do they have the capacity to see this spike in patient numbers, especially when we consider additional house building in the area in the future will add around 20,000 additional properties just in the immediate vicinity of the Royal Glamorgan Hospital itself? No figures have been brought forward by the health board to suggest that either the Princess of Wales Hospital or the Prince Charles Hospital can absorb those extra flows. 

Such plans also ignore the geography that makes the south Wales Valleys such wonderful places to live. Distances and journey times to access the proposed alternatives are further and longer. That means more risk of missing the all-important golden hour for treatment. And when we factor in the age profile of the areas concerned, and the high levels of underlying health conditions, this is all the more serious. Indeed, the most powerful testimony in support of retaining A&E at the Royal Glamorgan is from family members attesting how accessing the service saved the lives of their loved ones.

I hope that today's debate and the united show of support from residents and representatives will encourage the health board to think again. It is already possible to see extra effort finally being put into the recruitment of much-needed consultants. So, I want to place on the record my thanks to the health board for that. But it is also a chance for us to reconsider how we make current provision even better to relieve some of the pressure from front-line A&E services. Let's re-examine the role of minor injuries units in community hospitals; they can relieve pressure from A&E units and do so much more than their name suggests—treating broken bones, for example. I believe it is frankly ludicrous that the minor injuries unit in Ysbyty Cwm Cynon isn't a walk-in clinic but rather an appointment-only service. These things need to be looked at again, and I hope that can be part of the health board's proposals.

The strength of feeling that this has aroused is clear, so I would urge colleagues to send a strong message today and to back amendment 4.