[Inaudible.]—will still have those symptoms, which could be cancer. The worry is that when they do present, if identified as cancer, their diagnosis would be for a later stage, and a less treatable cancer. Reducing this backlog as quickly and safely as possible will add further strain to the diagnostic services. Additional capacity and plugging the workforce gaps is urgently needed.

Dirprwy Llywydd, last week the cross-party group on cancer here at the Senedd published a report on cancer waiting times that it initiated prior to the pandemic. Following the first pandemic peak, the initial inquiry terms of reference were expanded to include an understanding of the impact of the pandemic on cancer diagnosis and treatment. The report initially sought an assessment on the single cancer pathway, and it is still important to keep sight of the single cancer pathway as an intrinsically positive measure. Resuming the single cancer pathway reporting would present an opportunity to restart and reset, particularly for those conversations on where improvements for diagnostic pathways can and should be made.

I very much welcome last week's announcement by the Minister to reintroduce the single cancer pathway, along with a target figure that health boards must achieve. This is clearly a positive step in the right direction. However, I am calling for the Welsh Government to accept all the recommendations from the report, and in particular prioritise cancer care and treatment by providing additional resources to cope with the backlog. The report calls for a COVID-19 cancer recovery plan to be published, detailing how the Welsh Government will support improved delivery of cancer services, and, in particular, how diagnostic services would be supported to reduce the cancer backlog that does exist. This could require COVID-secure green sites to shore up capacity and maintain services, although I do recognise the comments that the Minister made in the previous debate that there is no guarantee of COVID-free sites due to the nature of this virus.

Adequate COVID testing for staff and patients is necessary to sustain such sites and keep them as COVID lite as possible, and to give confidence to patients. Alongside this, a wide-ranging mass media communications campaign is needed to encourage people with concerning symptoms to seek help from a GP. And I know, again, that the Minister has indicated that they'll do that and they've agreed on it. It is needed to encourage people with those symptoms to continue seeking help from their GPs, as well as to provide reassurance that people can be seen and treated safely. A post-COVID recovery plan for cancer services is essential to tackle the short-term situation, but it is also critical that this acts as a forerunner for the longer term transformation that is required for cancer diagnostics.

The cancer delivery plan for 2016 was meant to end this year, and while Welsh Government have announced their intention to develop a successor to this plan, no further detail has yet been forthcoming. Now, I do appreciate that the pandemic has taken priority for officials and that a new delivery plan must now also consider how it would build upon both the existing delivery plan and the recovery plan. However, we urgently need a new comprehensive cancer strategy, with the single cancer pathway as a central component, which will be essential to drive the transformation agenda forward at a time when it's been recognised by the Minister that we are unlikely to see waiting times for many services return to pre-COVID levels for many years. 

I do not hide from the fact that the challenge facing cancer services is immense. There was a clear need to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment and cases before the pandemic hit. No-one will dispute that COVID-19 has set us back further. Therefore, a new cancer strategy needs to be bold and ambitious in tackling these challenges. Minister, like all my colleagues, I want to ensure that the NHS and local health boards are supported by the Welsh Government in meeting these challenges. The coronavirus has gripped the country and caused strain on our front-line health workers, but unfortunately, diseases like cancer continue to appear through a wide variety of symptoms.

We must all remember that patients suffering from cancer or the possibility of a cancer diagnosis require emotional support also, as treatment of the disease. We need to support our local health boards to take steps to ensure that these personalised principles remain at the heart of cancer care. All cancer care, both of the physical and mental health agendas, needs to be ring-fenced and remain untouched when considering workflow and staffing arrangements.

Finding cancer early means treating cancer early. To everyone across Wales, do not ignore your symptoms, please; do not fear visiting your GP; do not hesitate in seeking help. I wish to remind you that there are many resources, both online through the NHS website and others, to aid you in your decision to go to the doctor. You will not be wasting the NHS's time by having your symptoms diagnosed. The NHS is there to support you through diagnosis, right through to treatment. If your new symptoms do not go away, you do need to see your doctor, and write down changes that have occurred or questions you might have so that you are clear in the position.

I'll conclude my contribution today by expressing my everlasting gratitude to those staff across the NHS in Wales whose tremendous efforts have sought to maintain cancer services as much as possible in the most difficult of circumstances that they've probably ever faced. The past eight months have been like no other for them, and without their hard work, their dedication to their patients and their continued commitment to delivering positive outcomes for those patients, the adverse impact on cancer patients would have been even greater. So, together, let's ensure that our NHS is supported; let's ensure that our cancer support services are supported; and let's ensure that we support each other in getting that early diagnosis. Diolch.