10. Short Debate: The current challenges facing the health and social care system in Wales, and opportunities for future service transformation

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:45 pm on 11 January 2023.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 6:45, 11 January 2023

(Translated)

I am very grateful to the Member for Monmouth for choosing this particular topic. It was a genuinely thoughtful and well-reasoned contribution. I'm sure that he himself would admit that these aren't entirely new ideas that he's mentioned. We do need to bring these ideas together in this way to the Senedd, because we do need to innovate in these ways to solve some of the issues that we're facing in the health service, because it's perfectly clear to all of us that we can't continue as we currently are.

I want to talk about one issue, the final point that was raised by Peter, namely the need to focus so much more on the preventative agenda. There are individual initiatives on the preventative agenda already happening, of course. We heard some in the debate on liver disease earlier on today. But I'm talking here about a change of culture. Yes, we need to change the culture within the population—the Minister referred to that yesterday—but the Government needs to lead that cultural change in everything that they do, across all parts of Government work, to make it the major ambition to make us a healthier nation, because we're not fit and healthy at the moment.