I'm pleased to take part in this debate and speak in support of the petition to ensure that Withybush hospital retains its A&E department. This petition is not the first to call on the Welsh Government to protect services at Withybush hospital, and ensure that they are not moved further afield. And yet, despite Welsh Government Ministers and the local health board saying that Withybush plays an important role in the delivery of health services in west Wales, the reality is that we've seen more and more services relocated elsewhere over the years, and the proposal now to move A&E is indeed the final straw.

Now, as Members will be aware, Pembrokeshire is home to an oil refinery, two liquefied natural gas terminals, ferry ports, firing ranges and a large number of workers in higher risk industries, like energy and farming, as the Chair of the Petitions Committee has just said. Pembrokeshire also welcomes thousands of visitors to the county every year, something, incidentally, the consultation documents to build a new hospital do not take into consideration when talking of moving A&E services eastwards.

Surely, the arrival of thousands and thousands of visitors to Pembrokeshire must also be a factor when deciding to downgrade A&E facilities. Removing A&E facilities from Withybush hospital would undoubtedly deter people from visiting the area if emergency facilities were not available at the local hospital. Quite clearly, we need these essential services at Withybush hospital in order to support local people, who should continue to have access to first-class emergency services, and to support the tens of thousands of visitors who visit us on a regular basis.

Members will know that outcomes improve significantly if people receive the right care and the right treatment within the first golden hour of falling ill or being injured. And in a recent letter issued by the local health board, it acknowledges that for some of the communities I represent, travel times to access emergency care at a new hospital site will now be longer. Therefore, if Withybush hospital's A&E department is transferred further afield, then it's highly unlikely that some of my constituents will receive the right care and treatment within the first golden hour of falling ill or being injured.

In Pembrokeshire, we accept that we already have to travel further afield for specialist treatment, but forcing us to travel further afield for life-saving treatment and emergency services is totally unacceptable, and could put lives at risk. By the health board's own admission, Pembrokeshire desperately needs upgrades to its transport infrastructure, and that means that people living in areas like St David's or Fishguard, for example, will take much more than an hour to reach A&E facilities if they do not remain at Withybush hospital. 

From time to time, we see the A40 closed due to accidents, and getting further eastwards within the golden hour from places like Fishguard, St David's and Dale, under those circumstances, would be impossible. As I've rehearsed in this Chamber on several occasions recently, the ambulance service in Pembrokeshire is already so stretched that it's been struggling to cope, and so, if A&E services are moved further afield, that will have a huge impact on response rates and the ability to get people to A&E as quickly as possible.

As some of you will be aware, Hywel Dda University Health Board has now identified five potential sites as locations to build this new hospital and those sites are now under consultation. Nevertheless, I cannot be any clearer—none of these sites are acceptable. And I'll tell you why: in the consultation document, it is made quite clear that Withybush hospital was not identified as a site because, quite rightly, it would not be appropriate for Carmarthenshire residents to travel this distance for this type of care. Surely, therefore, it's not appropriate for the people I represent in Pembrokeshire to travel further eastwards for this type of care either. I therefore implore the Minister and the Welsh Government to intervene in this matter and make sure that A&E services stay at Withybush hospital—no ifs, no buts.

In fact, what the people I represent want to see is the Welsh Government and the local health board develop and modernise Withybush hospital’s infrastructure and ensure that it can continue to provide first-class health services in Pembrokeshire. The constant erosion of services at Withybush hospital has to stop. The paediatric ambulatory care unit must be returned, the A&E department must be safeguarded, and the Welsh Government must stop waving through proposals that take vital services away from the people who need it.

Dirprwy Lywydd, the protection of services at Withybush hospital is the No. 1 priority of the people I represent, and so I urge the Minister to intervene now and develop a new approach for the delivery of health services in Pembrokeshire—an approach based on listening to the people of Pembrokeshire and providing them with a guarantee that services will be safeguarded and invested in for the future.