Diolch yn fawr, acting Presiding Officer. A diolch ichi, Weinidog.

I welcome this update on the future of optometry in Wales. There are fewer things more precious than sight and we should never underestimate the difference a well-run service can have on people's lives. I'm pleased to hear from the statement that there is work going on to upskill optometrists to enable them to work at the top of their licence in their practices. Any initiative like this that will help the NHS tackle the long waiting lists must be supported.

I must also pay tribute to the strides made since the development of a Welsh eye care initiative in 2002. This has been done in tandem with the ophthalmic profession to change and lead on eye care reform. Practitioners continue to work at a high level to provide an excellent level of care for the benefit of their patients in Wales, even throughout the pandemic.

Turning to the impact of the pandemic, like many other services, eye care has been deeply impacted by the pandemic. During the first lockdown, University College London researchers reported a 70 per cent reduction in new referrals and a high rate of missed appointments. Researchers and national sight loss charity, the Macular Society, have raised concerns about the long-term impact that this will have, as it is predicted that it will have led to hundreds of additional cases of severe sight impairment in the first lockdown alone. In Wales, for example, with a higher proportion of over-65-year-olds compared with the UK average, problems such as glaucoma could become much more prevalent.

The statement mentions the opportunity that the pandemic provides to redesign optometry services in Wales. We must return to a service that responds to the symptoms of sight loss in a timely manner, because many conditions can be treated if they're caught in time. While the onus is on the patient to report symptoms of sight loss, we also need a robust service that can respond to a patient's needs in a timely manner once symptoms are reported. Evidence suggests that optometry in Wales can be mixed, depending upon where you live. Good eye care in the Welsh NHS should be consistent and not dependent on where you live.

In recent years, there has also been a steady decline in vision rehabilitation services across the country. This means that adequate vision rehabilitation support is not being given to many blind and partially-sighted people when they need it. This is key, because research by Cardiff University demonstrates there are significantly improved outcomes for participants who had received visual rehabilitation compared to those on waiting lists. I would, therefore, like to see the Government go further and answer the following three questions. Firstly, will the postcode lottery of vision rehabilitation be eradicated in Wales? Secondly, will you consider adding vision rehabilitation to the list of qualifications eligible for the apprenticeship levy? And finally, thirdly, will you prioritise preventative services, including vision rehabilitation, alongside needs-assessed services, rather than after, once we are fully out of the pandemic? Thank you.