Thank you very much, Llywydd, and I thank the Conservatives for bringing this subject before us today. I'm not sure about the motion in its entirety. We'll come to that in due course, but in terms of the central point, what we have in clauses 1 and 2 in the motion, yes, it is World Stroke Day on Saturday 29 October, and it's important to take every possible opportunity to remind ourselves of the impact that strokes have within our families, within our communities, and what we can do and what the Government can do to ensure that our response is as strong and as effective as it can be.

Clause 2, of course, we recognise that we need an urgent response when somebody has a stroke in order to try to influence the best outcomes for that person. Stroke is the fourth main cause of death in Wales. The survival rates have improved, and that is to be welcomed as technologies worldwide improve. It is important to note, however, that your chance of survival is much greater if you don't live in poverty, and this is another one of those areas where health inequality has a genuine impact on your chance of survival if the worst happens.

But we do know that there is much more that we need to do to improve the service that is provided in Wales after a stroke. We need to ensure that survivors do receive better support, receive their six-monthly reviews, and receive services to rebuild their lives in some ways. There is a need for physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and so on, to ensure that people have the necessary support after suffering a stroke. 

Now, there is also the element that we see in the motion of urgency—the need for a response as soon as possible when a stroke happens. We see the statistics that show us that, on average, it takes six and a half hours between the start of a stroke and reaching hospital in Wales, and that is significantly longer than what we see in other parts of these isles. I do hope that the Minister, in her comments, will recognise that that's not good enough and that we need to improve that performance significantly.

I will draw attention here, in terms of a swift response, to the fact that the Wales air ambulance notes on their website that stroke response is one of the services that they offer. That is noted very clearly on their website. I draw attention to that, of course, because of the concerns in parts of Wales—in mid Wales and the north-west in particular—that the ideas on the table in terms of reorganising air ambulance services mean that people in the hardest-to-reach areas are going to have to wait longer for A&E to reach them, because, of course, that's what the air ambulance is. 

I'll turn now to clause 3. I do see this, I have to say, as a strange clause. I can see that the Conservative spokesperson on health and care is not in his seat this afternoon, for whatever reason, but what we have is a proposal by his party ordering the health committee to look at issues relating to stroke and the response to stroke. As a member of the health committee, I see that as a strange thing. I'm perfectly happy for the health committee—if we can make time for it; maybe we can have a conversation with the Chair about that—to look at that area, but I do see it as an odd process that that is being presented in this way. 

I'll turn quickly to the amendment from the Government. I have had an interesting experience in preparing for this session today, because I can't find any information at all in terms of what the stroke programme board that the Government refers to here is, which it says is going to make a great contribution to the response to stroke in Wales. There is no information available anywhere as to whether it exists and who is a member of that board, so I'm looking forward greatly to the Minister educating us on that. But it does say to us that where action is being taken, the Welsh Government should explain that. Even charities couldn't tell us what that board was. I'll listen very carefully. But we can all be in agreement that we need to do more to ensure that people who do suffer from stroke in Wales have urgent support, and the best possible support.