Over the summer I will be asking the public across Wales to support me in a campaign to ensure that our doctors, nurses, health professionals and care workers from the EU or overseas feel welcome by saying thank you to them.
The response to this campaign which I started in Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen this week was incredible. All patients grasped immediately, irrespective of the way they had voted, that these expert professionals need to be supported and made to feel at home.
Several EU doctors have told me that they feel slightly less welcome since the vote and so it is essential that we, the public take time to reassure them, and make them understand that we do appreciate all that they do for us.
One of the biggest challenges the NHS faces, especially in rural areas like Mid and West Wales, is attracting staff and more than 4,500 doctors and nurses from outside of the UK support the delivery of health services across Wales.
The success of the services in our hospitals is utterly dependent on their expertise, as well as on the expertise of British staff.
