I’m delighted to take part in this important debate today. Dying is something we all do, but dying well is, sadly, something that eludes far too many people. This needs to change, which is why I am proud to be a member of the cross-party group on hospice and palliative care. As our CPG discovered, the pandemic had a very real, very dramatic impact on palliative and end-of life care. Whilst the impact of the pandemic on end-of-life care was understandable during the pandemic phase, its continued effect as COVID became endemic is less so.

At a recent CPG meeting, we heard that accessing out-of-hours services remains diabolical. A carer took over 20 hours to get through to the 111 service during a weekend just to discuss medication. It is little wonder, therefore, that one in every 14 patients attending A&E departments is end of life. We need to drastically improve end-of-life services in the community so that patients, carers and care homes are not forced to access acute health services. This is why I am extremely grateful to all those who participated in our inquiry, and why Welsh Conservatives have tabled this motion today.

If we are to prepare for the next pandemic and ensure we can meet the rising demand for palliative and end-of-life care in the community, we have to do things differently. Whilst we can’t always choose when to die, we should all have a choice where to die. Most of us would not choose an acute hospital setting for our final moments. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic led to a third more people dying in private homes, witnesses to our inquiry pointed to the fact that accessing palliative care was sometimes impossible. Patients and their families were often isolated, and end of life became more traumatic than it needed to be.

Marie Curie’s evidence was telling, in that they pointed to the fact that, in 75 per cent of deaths at home, patients did not get the care needed. This was despite the heroic efforts of local hospice-at-home and community palliative care teams. These teams went far above and beyond to provide much-needed care during the pandemic. And I would like, at this point, to place on the record my thanks to all those teams for their care and dedication. But we shouldn’t have to rely upon the goodwill and stellar efforts of dedicated staff going the extra mile. We have to ensure that we have a well-funded, adequately resourced and staffed system of community-based palliative and end-of-life care. This is not what we have at the moment. Our CPG has been told that far too many front-line workers are struggling with exhaustion, burn-out and the emotional toll of providing care through the pandemic. And the demands on staff are set to skyrocket in the coming years. Who knows what will happen if H5N1 makes the jump from birds to humans? We are not prepared. We have not learned the lessons from COVID. I therefore urge the Welsh Government to take heed of our CPG report and accept all the recommendations, particularly with regard to future funding. Diolch yn fawr.