Diolch, Llywydd. I move the amendment tabled in my name. Before Christmas and for five weeks after, my husband was critically ill in hospital with coronavirus and he saw first-hand the stress on all NHS staff. We owe them a huge debt. We have discussed many times the need to recruit and train doctors and nurses from the local population, and here in Wales, this is doubly important, because of the need to increase the number of staff in the NHS who can speak Welsh. I was therefore dismayed to read the report by Migration Watch UK, which, using UCAS figures, uncovered the fact that 23,300 UK-domiciled students were rejected for nursing courses at the height of the pandemic. The report also highlighted the fact that over half of all UK-based applicants for nursing courses have been rejected in the past decade. Against this backdrop, both the Royal College of Nursing and the Nursing and Midwifery Council have been warning of nursing shortages and the impending disaster of an ageing workforce.

All of the royal colleges and medical professional bodies have warned Governments of staff shortages, but instead of addressing the issue by training and recruiting young people from the UK, successive Governments both here and at the other end of the M4 have relied upon training and recruiting from overseas. Not only is this lack of workforce planning short-sighted, it's also unfair to the developing world, as we are poaching their talent and their much-needed doctors and nurses. We are extremely fortunate in that we have the virus on the back foot, and should have our entire population vaccinated by summer. The rest of the world are not as fortunate. The Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia will need their medics more than we do as they continue to deal with COVID. Is it fair that we poach these staff? We have to become more self-reliant for our doctors and nurses. We must ascertain the true level of staffing needed by working with the royal colleges and professional bodies, and then train, domestically, sufficient staff to meet the demands of our ageing population. Otherwise, we will forever be at the mercy of winter pressures and woefully unprepared for any future pandemic. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you.