1. Will the Minister make a statement on the development of a north Wales medical school? OQ56475

Yes. In June 2020, I created a task and finish group to explore the feasibility of proposals put forward by Bangor University and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board for a north Wales school for medical and health sciences. This work has now progressed to the development of a full business case, and, as you'll know, my party has pledged in the forthcoming election to see that to a successful conclusion.

Thank you. Since Welsh Labour were voted back into Government in May 2016, the number of patient pathways waiting over 36 weeks to start treatment has increased from 4,078 to 50,143. You have overseen a 1,130 per cent increase over five years. Now, whilst we realise the pandemic has worsened the situation, the scene was already bleak here in north Wales. By February 2020, the number of treatment pathways waiting over 36 weeks had already reached 11,296. Fast-tracking the development of a medical school is a major part of this solution. Even the Royal College of Physicians Wales has long supported the expansion of a medical school. And as they told me only this week, there are ongoing major trainee rota gaps in every one of our hospitals, and this cannot continue, as it has a direct impact on quality of patient care. Earlier this month, you kindly issued a written statement on medical education in north Wales. Whilst I welcome the fact that a total of 19 students began their studies on the C21 programme in the 2019-20 intake, the number actually fell to 18 students in the intake the year after. What steps will you take to improve awareness of opportunities in north Wales and ensure that there is an expansion rather than a decline in the number of students receiving medical education here? Diolch.

Thank you for the question. I think it's time to put the record straight on some of the allegations made by not just this, but the regular Conservative Members. Before the pandemic, we saw the best waiting times position in six years, until the year before the pandemic. We then saw not just in Wales, but in every part of the UK a decline as a direct consequence of tax and pension changes introduced by the Conservatives at Westminster. You'll see that direct correlation in every UK nation—don't take my word for it, go and talk to the British Medical Association about the direct impact that had on their members and on the ability to continue making progress on waiting times.

When it comes to the points about the medical school and medical education in north Wales, this Government has a good track record on making decisions to expand opportunities to undertake medical education in north Wales. We're committed to not just seeing through the task and finish group and the work on delivering a business case for north Wales, but, of course, as I've indicated, there's a clear manifesto headline pledge to see that to a successful conclusion if Welsh Labour are re-elected to lead the Welsh Government again by the people of Wales.

We also have a good record on doctor training in north Wales on a whole range of areas. For example, on general practice, we now regularly fill a significant number of GP training posts. In fact, we overfill those training posts, including regularly filling all of the GP training places available in north Wales as well. So, on our track record, we have a good track record, and on our ambition for the future, I think the people of Wales will continue to place their trust in us and I look forward to their verdict on the first Thursday in May.

Minister, a medical school for north Wales is something that I have long called for and is something that is particularly important for the north Wales region. Do you agree with me that it's a Mark Drakeford-led Government that is committed to delivering this and that the only way that this is affordable and deliverable is with him as First Minister?

I completely agree, and the Member's right to point out that Welsh Labour have actually done the hard yards in Government to expand medical education and training opportunities in north Wales. We've done that successfully. It's a clear, headline, direct manifesto pledge: if you vote Welsh Labour, then we will see through to a successful conclusion a medical school in north Wales—more opportunities to train and stay in Wales, and, crucially, they'll work alongside the medical schools we already have in Swansea and Cardiff, in providing what I believe will be high-quality medical education, and to keep doctors training in Wales, and for them to stay to train, work and live in Wales.

Minister, during the referendum campaign, and well after, I always felt great disquiet as one of the major arguments for remaining, and then for thwarting the vote, was how the NHS may be affected by an exodus of workers in the NHS. It is almost as if civic leaders and politicians were celebrating the fact that other countries' health services and training were being plundered by the UK, and I never really got that point of view. Do you agree with me that a medical school in north Wales will be a part of the drive to self-sufficiency in the NHS, taking responsibility for training our own workforce, if you like, and that has to be a really, really good thing? Thank you. 

Well, I think the Member's points are broadly absurd. When it comes to the position about the referendums and our past, actually Brexit has been and done and we're out of the European Union whether we like it or not. That's the reality of where we are, and it will have an impact on our ability to recruit from current European Union member states. And I don't share the Member's view that this is about plundering other parts of the world. We see people who train here in the UK who go and work in other parts of the world as well. And I should remind not just the Member, but everybody that the NHS has always been an international success story. If we had not recruited people from around the world, then our NHS would not have delivered the breadth of care that it has. It would not be the embodiment of the most popular and trusted public institution in this country. Go into any hospital within Wales and you will find an international cast delivering high-quality healthcare, changing and improving our country, not just as workers, but as friends and community members—people who we live alongside and whose children go to the same schools as ours. I'm very proud of our international links. I look forward to maintaining those international links to both recruit and to help other parts of the world, and I look forward to building on the successful track record of this Government in recruiting, training and retaining more of our staff right across the health service—those nurses, doctors and other therapists and scientists as well that we all have come to rely on even more than usual in this past year.