Diolch yn fawr. I'd like to thank Russell and the Conservatives for bringing forward another important debate on cancer services. I'd like to thank others, also, for their really powerful and thoughtful contributions to this debate. 

As we emerge from the impact of the pandemic, we must continue to focus on recovery in cancer services and look to minimise any impact on outcomes. We've set out in a number of plans the work we are doing to support cancer services, and we are giving this significant and ongoing focus in our discussions with health boards. Frankly, we're not doing well enough yet, and I'm very well aware that we've got a long way to go on this. Much of what's been discussed today applies across many types of cancers, but I think it's right, during Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, that we focus on cancers of the ovary, uterus, cervix and some of the rarer types, such as vulval and vaginal.

I know that survival rates for cancer of the uterus have dropped in recent figures, although we have seen improvements for ovarian and for cervical cancer. It's really important that people with concerns about cancer come forward early to see their GP, and we must not be embarrassed to talk about these conditions and to seek help. I also encourage people eligible to take part in cervical screening or the HPV vaccination programme, as prevention is the very best approach.

I've heard loud and clear what some of you have said about the need to make sure that those screenings are available to women at convenient times. I understand that it can be challenging for working-age women to make appointments around their work commitments, so we're going to look and we're going to learn from England about the potential to introduce self-sampling. I agree that NHS Wales's performance in relation to gynaecological cancers in particular is not what it should be and it's certainly not what I expect to see. The service is working hard to address this, putting in additional clinics, streamlining pathways and looking for new ways to deliver services. In July alone, 1,561 people entered this particular cancer pathway, and during the same month—the same month—1,256 people on this cancer pathway were given the all clear. So, work is going on and people are getting through the system, but it's not enough. Seventy-six people started their definitive first cancer treatment for these conditions in July. 

Now, we're still in a pandemic situation and, even though the direct impact on services is receding, we still have the indirect consequences of earlier waves of the pandemic with us—people who perhaps delayed presenting with concerns are now seeking help on top of those who would ordinarily be coming forward at this time. And what's happening is that that's resulting in significantly larger numbers of people requiring investigation—roughly around 11 per cent more for gynaecological cancers since January. 

Now, our NHS teams at the diagnostic and treatment stages are struggling to get through the number of referrals that we're now seeing and have been seeing for many, many months. And, as we all know, we can't just magic up additional trained specialist nurses, radiologists, gynaecologists, surgeons and oncologists. We have the workforce that we entered the pandemic with. Although we are training more specialists in areas like oncology and radiology, it's going to take several years to see the benefit of this extra staffing capacity. In the meantime, we're training people in advanced practice roles to alleviate some of these pressures. And, of course, as cancer referrals go through generic diagnostic and out-patient services, we're prioritising cancer care over other conditions due to the clinical urgency involved.