Finally, thank you. Diolch, Dirprwy Llywydd. 

Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. Digital technology is transforming our health service. The use of information technology is vital to a modern NHS. We can’t go back to the days of paper records or a time when test results took weeks to arrive with our Royal Mail service.

I welcome the introduction of the Welsh patient referral system, which is speeding up the referral process and making it much more reliable. Cabinet Secretary how do you plan to expand upon this system? Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board has partnered with DrDoctor, which has digitised communications between patients and appointments management. The local health board have said that this system has already saved them £1 million from better clinic utilisation. Do you have any plans to encourage other local health boards to adopt similar systems?

I also welcome the investment in the Choose Pharmacy platform, and the benefits this is delivering to patient care. Cabinet Secretary, how will you be building upon the Choose Pharmacy IT system to ensure that everyone in Wales has access to online prescription ordering, regardless of where they live?

Digital technology is transforming healthcare for the better, but we have to ensure that it is properly implemented. We learnt yesterday that the majority of trusts in England who fell foul of last year’s cyber attack have still not secured their systems. Can you outline the steps we are taking in Wales to prevent such attacks on our primary care IT infrastructure?

Data scientists, information security specialists and software engineers are as vital to our NHS as the clinicians, pharmacists and allied health professionals who staff hospitals and GP surgeries. Can you outline how the Welsh Government plans to increase the IT workforce within the NHS?

And, finally, Cabinet Secretary, I would like to return to the issue of the GP IT systems. Many GP practices have undertaken significant investment in systems that integrate with EMIS. Can you outline what assistance the Welsh Government will be giving to those practices to ensure that their systems will work with replacement systems and how you will help to train staff on the EMIS replacement?

Thank you once again for your statement. I look forward to the further improvements digital technologies will bring to our NHS. Diolch yn fawr.