Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I want to thank Dai Lloyd and Members for bringing this important issue to the Chamber, and for Members' contributions. I have listened to what the speakers had to say and I am generally supportive of the motion.

We are aware, as indeed many speakers have set out, of the impact that COVID-19 has had on stroke services since the earliest days of the pandemic. You'll recall that I have frequently highlighted the reduction in admissions of people coming into our hospitals with stroke, not because the public health had rapidly and miraculously improved, but because people were avoiding the service. We have worked diligently with our health boards, guiding planning activity to try to alleviate this impact.

Last May, in our essential service guidance, stroke and transient ischaemic attack services for the population were recognised as being essential in the face of the overwhelming pressure upon our NHS. The framework we provided was designed to help organisations and services to deliver stroke services during the pandemic and the subsequent phases. We wanted to maintain the integrity of stroke services and patient outcomes, alongside acute COVID-19 care. That framework includes guidance on secondary prevention and rehabilitation to minimise long-term disability, support for carers, and, indeed, life-after-stroke services. We have consistently set out messages with the public to try and encourage all of us to continue to attend emergency departments for serious or life-threatening illnesses, such as stroke, throughout the pandemic.

We do, of course, remain committed to improving support for stroke survivors, and welcome the Stroke Association's 'Stroke recoveries at risk' report. Last year, we announced an additional £1.4 million for rehabilitation services for all people at risk of losing their independence, and we published our rehabilitation framework to help organisations to plan for those rehab services during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

I note the calls for a new stroke delivery plan. Clearly, it isn't possible to develop such a plan in the time left to us before the pre-election period, and I don't think we could honestly rely on a new Government, yet to be formed and determined by the voters of Wales, to adopt a strategy decided before they're elected. It's possible that a new Government may want to focus on matters differently. So, that will be for a new Government.

We have rolled forward the current approach, and that would mean that the current approach is in progress. That means it's been extended to March 2022, and a new plan would be ready at the start of a new Senedd term, to be ready for implementation from March 2022 when the extended plan comes to an end. That will allow for reflection on the lessons learned and new models of care used during the pandemic.

It must also fit in, and, I believe, take advantage of the opportunities set out in 'A Healthier Wales'. These include the development of the national clinical framework and the NHS executive function, and I welcome the recognition Dr Lloyd provided for the clinical lead for stroke services in Wales, taking on board the excellent work done by his predecessor. And it should also properly consider the recommendations of the cross-party group on stroke, and the Stroke Association's 'Stroke recoveries at risk' report.

I welcome the focus many Members have had on stroke service reform, and in particular the hyper acute units. We already have a number of these in place across Wales and the challenge is having more of them to cover the rest of the country. That will require specialisation and fewer admitting stroke units in the country, but the evidence is clear that, in doing so, we will improve outcomes, and that specialisation must also go hand in hand with the improvement in wider community and rehab services that all speakers have recognised.

So, I welcome the debate, and on a personal note, I'll just remind Members that my own father recovered from several strokes and eventually lost his life to a stroke, so I do understand the need and the benefit from a further improvement in stroke services. While I'm not able to support the motion in its entirety, I'm certainly supportive of the sentiments and where Members from across the Chamber politically want to go. The Welsh Government will therefore be abstaining in the vote later today.