You'll be pleased to know the chair of the cross-party group has taken a minute out of my speech, so you'll be glad to know about that. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this debate today. Over 200,000 people in Wales live with diabetes, with over 0.5 million people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. On those figures alone, we should all be be taking an active interest in this area of health and introducing the changes that we need to see to reduce the burdens of the wider NHS.

I was honoured to sponsor an event earlier this month for Diabetes UK Cymru to highlight the importance of delivering improvements for people with diabetes who have poor mental health and well-being. The event brought together medical professionals from across Wales and provided an opportunity for policy makers to listen to these experts and what we should be doing to address the pressures facing our national health service and helping our constituents who struggle with diabetes.

The event was to launch the campaign 'From Missing to Mainstream', to call for specialist psychological support for those living with diabetes in Wales. The need for psychological services was recognised in the Welsh Government's most recent diabetes delivery plan 2016-2020, with an estimated 41 per cent of people living with diabetes in Wales believed to have poor psychological well-being due to the challenges they face on a daily basis living with diabetes.

The Welsh NHS currently sets itself no measurable targets for how much psychological support is delivered to those who suffer with long-term conditions. The amount of service delivered across the country also varies hugely, and this is something that Welsh Government must address sooner rather than later. For those of you who attended the event, you will remember the poignant contribution from a sufferer of diabetes and the pressure the management of it placed on his mental health.

We should listen to Diabetes Cymru, who are calling for the funding for psychological specialists for diabetes patients. The initial cost of the specialist professionals is minimal and would soon be recouped with the savings from emergency diabetes interventions and emergency medical health support for people at crisis point. Deputy Llywydd, I think it's time for us to put the patients first and ensure we invest properly in diabetes care in Wales, both to address the physical and emotional effects on people suffering with diabetes. As somebody said at that event, people are dying because we are doing nothing. So, I would urge colleagues to support the motion today, and, as I said, let's put the patient first. Diolch, Deputy Llywydd.