Thank you, Presiding Officer. The new treatment fund became active immediately after it was established in January of this year. The purpose of our new treatment fund is to speed up access to those medicines that have been proven to demonstrate clinical and cost effectiveness and therefore represent good value for money for the NHS resources and the public purse. This statement is to update Members on progress.

This Government is providing £80 million over the next five years to speed up access to medicines that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence—NICE—and the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group, the AWMSG. In practical terms, that means we are allocating an additional £16 million a year to health boards. In return, health boards must make these recommended medicines available for prescribing, where clinically appropriate, within two months. This represents a reduction in the required implementation timescale of a third. Health boards are also required to plan for the implementation of NICE recommendations from the earlier date of the publication of the final appraisal document, rather than waiting for the publication of the final technology appraisal guidance. That makes a difference because it can reduce the time to availability by up to eight weeks. All new cancer medicines with an interim recommendation from NICE must also be made available within the same time frames.

I have issued directions to health boards mandating the new timescales for implementation. A surveillance system has been established to monitor health board compliance on a regular basis, and the All-Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre will publish a report of the data later this year after summer recess.

We’ve designed our new fund to treat all conditions equally, assuring Welsh citizens that we want to see an evidence-based new medicines approach being made available quickly and consistently regardless of condition. The annual allocation of £16 million for 2016-17 was released in two tranches between January and March. That’s helped to support the delivery of effective, new treatments for a wide range of life-limiting and/or life-threatening diseases, including heart failure, cancer, arthritis and diabetes—to name a few. A list of medicines recommended, to date, will be published alongside this statement.

This £80 million fund is for the express purpose of enabling recommended medicines to be made available faster and to reduce variation in access across Wales. That was a commitment we put to the people of Wales in May last year, and we’re delivering on that commitment to make the funding available and to set the new parameters for faster and more consistent access. I will, of course, hold health boards to account for putting this into effect and making this a reality for patients across Wales.

In the first two months of the fund, health board compliance showed some variation in the availability of recommended medicines on health board formularies, and that was reflected by the First Minister during questions on 20 June. He commented that whilst some good progress had been made, there was still more to do to ensure full compliance with the new timescales across the whole of Wales. Following that, discussions have taken place at a chair and chief executive level since the fund was established. Health boards and trusts are absolutely clear as to the specific purpose of this fund and our commitment to secure faster, more consistent access to recommended medicines.

So, I’m pleased to report that the latest data show a further improvement. As of 9 June, there were 17 applicable medicines. One health board, Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board, made 15 of the 17 recommended medicines available by this date. All 17 medicines are now available within Cardiff and Vale, and the board has confirmed that systems have been reviewed to ensure full compliance going forward. The other six health boards, however, had made all 17 medicines available within the time frame. And Velindre NHS Trust has made all but one of the relevant medicines available within the two-month time frame, but all are now available as well.

The money for the fund is being provided to ensure that new medicines are available within that two-month time frame. I previously indicated that, in exceptional circumstances, the chief medical officer can be contacted to agree a further month to comply. If organisations do not meet the required timescales, moving forward, then I will have no hesitation in clawing back the allocated moneys, either partially or completely.

The approach that we are taking to supporting faster access to medicines with proven value for money across all diseases is supported by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, and they continue to work with us on improving planning, through our forward planning, to introduce new medicines—in particular, strengthening the data for financial forecasting and the earlier identification of new medicines, which may require substantial infrastructure development.

In January, when I launched the new treatment fund, I said a concerted, joint effort was needed between the pharmaceutical industry, NHS Wales and the Welsh Government to deliver a sustainable and responsive approach to the introduction of new medicines. That was illustrated effectively just last month when the new breast cancer treatment, Kadcyla, was made available quickly because the manufacturer engaged with NHS Wales to secure an early agreement. The new treatment fund has had a positive impact on the time taken by health boards to make new, recommended medicines available sooner, and good progress has been made. That now needs to be consistent across Wales, with every health board achieving full compliance within the two-month timescale for every medicine. I expect that full compliance to be sustained over the five-year period of the fund, and to make a real difference with and for patients. I will, of course, continue to report progress to the National Assembly.