Primary care has an excellent future in Wales as the mainstay of a sustainable health system for future generations. We continue to invest further in primary care to increase the capacity and capability of the workforce, providing better access to more services within communities including services in the Cynon Valley.

We are working closely with the NHS to deliver a major programme of improvements in CAMHS. The additional £8 million a year investment made in 2015 is already showing benefits with a 42 per cent reduction in young people waiting over 16 weeks from its peak in September 2015, compared to July 2016.

I expect local health boards to maximise the use of minor injuries units, and all other available capacity in providing timely access to patients who do not have a serious injury but may require assessment and treatment. This should form part of an integrated unscheduled care system.

I expect health boards to ensure that all patients, both new and follow-up, are seen in a timely manner based on clinical need.

Work to tackle drug and alcohol addiction is undertaken through our substance misuse delivery plan 2016-18, which was published last month. The actions in the plan support our ambitions in ‘Taking Wales Forward’. We commit nearly £50 million per annum to this agenda, with a focus on reducing the harm substance misuse causes individuals, families and communities.

Health boards are progressing with significant investment in neonatal services in both north and south Wales. This will further support the steady improvements in every health board’s achievement of the all-Wales neonatal standards since 2008.

I expect health boards to plan and configure services that meet the needs of their people. This includes the provision of a sufficient number of hospital beds, deemed to be clinically necessary, to meet local expected demand, taking into account fluctuations in demand that occur throughout the year.