I very much thank the Conservatives for tabling this motion, because women’s health gets much less attention from the NHS, from medical research and the pharmaceutical industry, so anything that shines a light on women’s health is really welcome. And we should all be concerned that less than a third of gynaecological referrals are seen within 62 days, but having talked to some of the gynaecologists and obstetricians working in England, I appreciate that this is not something that is facing Wales alone; it’s also a major concern across the NHS.

I think one of the things we need to do when we look at why gynaecological referrals—. Obviously, waiting lists are much longer than we currently have capacity to see. Are they appropriate, these gynaecological referrals, or are people in primary care not dealing with issues themselves, when they ought to be? Now, we need to start, of course, with prevention, and I think that the mandatory relationships and sexuality education helps all citizens be aware of how their body works and what is normal and what is not normal, and when they should be seeking advice. That's a really important issue. We need to operate prudent healthcare in primary care, and I recall, for example, that the UK Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into making telemedical abortions a permanent feature of sexual health provision, which was something that Wales took a bold decision about. That's clearly the right thing, particularly for people who've got caring responsibilities or live in rural areas, where getting to a clinic is going to be way more difficult than if you live in an urban constituency like mine.

Equally, we need to ensure that people have access to contraception so that they are not needing abortions in the first place. That's all part of prudent healthcare. I know we have C-Cards for under-25-year-olds, so they can get condoms, and that obviously helps prevent unwanted pregnancies and also sexually transmitted infections, both of which are seriously important in preventing gynaecological problems later on.

This week, I heard from a consultant in women's health in the women's hospital in Liverpool that long-acting—LARCs—long-acting reproductive—. I can't remember what they're called, but they're basically an injection to enable you to not get pregnant, with a long-acting release to do that. They were the most effective public health intervention. I wrote it down because I thought it was a really bold statement. But she said that in England, anyway, it's made very difficult to get hold of, and we know from earlier work done by the Welsh Government that this is a really effective prevention for vulnerable groups—teenagers who have become pregnant, and then who obviously want to ensure that they don't get pregnant again.

So, we need to ensure that all people who are sexually active have access to the appropriate consultation for their needs, and also to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infection. Chlamydia is one of the major sources of infertility, which then causes huge referrals to gynaecologists, and a very complicated and lengthy journey to try and reverse the problems that may have been created by sexually transmitted diseases that haven't been dealt with effectively and early enough.

Now, we also know that, more recently, there have been major advances in how we support people with the menopause, as a result of campaigns by people like Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales, the Wales TUC's 'The menopause in the workplace', and the training for employers offered by people like Jayne Woodman, which includes support from the Welsh Government through Academi Wales. I was really interested to see that Hywel Dda University Health Board has been piloting a questionnaire to everybody who turns up for cervical screening over 40, to alert them to the menopause symptoms they may or may not be experiencing. This helps build women's own knowledge of their bodies, and allows them to visit their GP with a starter for 10, so they've got a little list of things that are relevant to the issue, which reduces the length of the consultation and increases the effectiveness of that consultation.