Thank you for the series of questions. I don’t accept your opening gambit that surgery after surgery are handing back the keys as if there is a widespread movement. More than 95 per cent of practices are still managing themselves. To suggest otherwise is to overplay it in a manner that does not get borne out by the facts. The overwhelming majority of primary care and GP services are delivered by the independent contractor model. For the future, the independent contractor model will continue to deliver the great majority of GP services. What we are saying, together with partners in general practice, and other parts of the healthcare world, is that we think there will be different models alongside the independent contractor model in the future. For example, in Brecon, we’ve seen a community interest company created by GP surgeries working together to help to deliver care in a different way. We see the federation model in Bridgend. We will probably see, as I said before, a smaller number of single-handed practices in the future, and more of a federation between different parts of general practice, but also with that wider primary care team. And it’s not for the Government to try and impose a single model across the whole primary care sector. It is for us to support them and work alongside them. Actually, the way that clusters are bringing people together has been really exciting and genuinely successful, and encourages people to share their problems, but also share answers too.

I think this is a time to recognise the challenges that exist, and this Government certainly does so. We’re having those conversations about what we could and should do, together with our partners right across primary care, to make sure that primary care has a fit and healthy future to continue serving the people of Wales—in a different way of working, yes, in the future, but to continue a high-quality healthcare service.