Thank you, Presiding Officer. The way that we deliver primary care services is, of course, changing. Digital technology is transforming the way that citizens access their local healthcare. Greater use of digital technology is a key aspect of our vision to deliver the right care, at the right time, and in the right place, as close to home as possible.

One of the ways that we are achieving this is through the introduction of the Welsh patient referral service system. This service has been in place since 2015, so GPs can now send referrals to secondary care electronically, enabling the referral to be processed in under an hour. This is in contrast to the days or weeks that it takes for paper-based processed referrals, meaning that patients receive faster specialist care. GPs are using this digital technology to ensure that nearly 20,000 referrals are prioritised every month. The service also enables the consultant to request additional information from the GP referrer. In the future,  this will be further developed to allow dialogue to take place, empowering GPs to manage their cases locally and, of course, to avoid unnecessary referrals.

Of course, the local healthcare team is more than our hardworking GPs. For example, community pharmacists play a vital role in meeting people’s needs locally. The Welsh Government has, of course, invested substantially in the Choose Pharmacy IT platform to support community pharmacists to deliver services that would traditionally be accessed through GPs. This avoids the need for patients to wait for a GP appointment, and it includes the common ailment service, the seasonal flu vaccination and the discharge medicines review service. Working digitally allows community pharmacists to access a patient’s GP summary record, including information on allergies, and ensuring that medications are prescribed safely and appropriately. Since this service started in September 2013, our community pharmacists have undertaken over 22,000 common ailments consultations and have delivered 30,000 flu vaccinations in this season alone.