Diolch, Llywydd. I welcome the opportunity to introduce this debate today. Before I begin, I would like to mention that I have agreed to give a minute of my time to Russell George, Laura Anne Jones, Gareth Davies and Rhun ap Iorwerth, and I look forward to hearing your contributions later.

Llywydd, it’s no secret that the health and social care sector is under significant pressure, both in Wales and beyond. Waiting lists for treatment are ever increasing. Waiting times for ambulances in many cases are unacceptably long. We’ve all received casework from constituents detailing often harrowing experiences of seeing loved ones waiting in hospital corridors, or the lack of ambulances, or having to be driven to hospital by a loved one whilst seriously ill. Meanwhile, social care services are coming under increasing demand, with well-documented issues in staffing recruitment and retention stretching services.

I’m fully aware that these issues are not specific to Wales; you only have to turn the television on to see what is going on elsewhere in the UK, but it’s fair to say that issues seem more acute here in Wales. And it goes without saying that these issues are not down to the fantastic health and social care staff who work tirelessly day and night to help people as much as possible and provide excellent care and support. I know that the Welsh Government, and, indeed, the UK Government, have put in place various measures to try to tackle some of these issues. Only yesterday, we heard from the Minister about the winter pressures that the Welsh NHS is facing, and the steps that the Government is taking to try to ease some of these, such as securing an additional 500 community beds for step-down care, the regional integration fund and investing in urgent primary care centres, all of which I welcome, as I’m sure we all do across the Chamber.