Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. 

The Welsh Government commitment to our NHS workforce was set out clearly in our programme for government, where we pledged to recruit and train more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. Last summer, I published our long-term plan for health and care, 'A Healthier Wales'. It emphasises how fundamental our workforce are to delivering successful health and social care in Wales. Planning for a skilled and sustainable workforce has never been more important than in recent times.

The most recent official workforce statistics, published last week, show there are now more staff working in NHS Wales than ever before. That reflects our ongoing commitment and investment in the NHS workforce, even against the backdrop of ongoing austerity, now going into its tenth year. But success is not always about adding more. In line with prudent healthcare principles, it is vital that NHS Wales makes effective use of the skills of each profession in the role that they are qualified to undertake, supporting staff to work at the top of their skill set, and working as part of sustainable multidisciplinary teams.   

For the fifth consecutive year, funding to support health professional education and training in Wales has increased. In this financial year, we will invest £114 million, an increase of £7 million available from 2018-19. That will support a range of education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales. This is a record level of funding, and will support the highest ever number of training opportunities here in Wales.  

Following the publication of 'A Healthier Wales', Health Education and Improvement Wales is developing one of the key actions, which is a national workforce strategy for health and social care, to be completed later this year. This will provide a more strategic framework for planning and developing the workforce, including, of course, recruitment and retention.

Alongside our continued investment and longer term priorities through the workforce strategy, our flagship national and international marketing campaign, 'Train. Work. Live.', has been supporting health boards, trusts and Health Education and Improvement Wales in their activities to attract additional staff to train, work and live here in Wales. The campaign is supported by a range of stakeholders. It has put Wales on the international recruitment map for healthcare professionals, showcasing the benefits of training, working and living in Wales. The campaign has targeted a number of countries through digital marketing, featuring images and personal stories of healthcare professions working within our NHS, many of whom have relocated to Wales and put down roots here.

As part of our actions to support general practice and primary care, GP training has been incentivised through two schemes, which are already proving to be successful in attracting doctors into areas of Wales where there have been vacancies for a number of years previously. Since the launch of the medical phase of 'Train. Work. Live.', the number of doctors choosing Wales to undertake GP speciality training has increased significantly. In 2017, we overfilled our allocation with the 144 places filled. Last year, we had 134 from 136 places filled. Health Education and Improvement Wales has already begun to introduce measures to enable an increase in the number of GP training placements advertised in 2019, with the increase in advertised places greatest in areas of Wales that, until recently, have had the most pressing issues with GP training capacity.

As a result of a combination of these actions, I am pleased to be able to confirm to the Chamber today that following only the first of the three recruitment rounds for GP speciality training in 2019, we have filled 131 places—28 more doctors than at the same stage last year. I am also pleased to confirm more positive interest from doctors applying through the round 1 re-advert recruitment window in 2019, with over 50 per cent more applications received than at this stage in 2018.

I have agreed further funding for Heath Education and Improvement Wales to enable them to offer additional places above the allocations where we are able to capitalise on this increased level of interest and secure additional GP trainees in 2019. This is in line with my long-standing commitment to ensure that we could accommodate additional trainees where it was possible to recruit them and not be constrained by fixed targets. In autumn, once this year’s specialty training recruitment rounds are all complete, I look forward to providing further positive news about the total number of doctors appointed to GP speciality training.

I have also asked Health Education and Improvement Wales to undertake a review of GP training schemes to establish whether the current arrangements are fit for purpose in terms of their size, location and quality to deliver an increased number of GP trainees in Wales and meet the future needs of our model for primary care. Their advice will inform my future decisions, including long-term investment plans in this area.

I am pleased to say that we're seeing improved fill rates in the other medical specialities too, which have featured as part of the 'Train. Work. Live.' campaign, including core psychiatry and core medical training. Final preparations are under way to launch the pharmacy phase of 'Train. Work. Live.' to ensure that Wales remains competitive against a backdrop of increasing competition amongst UK organisations recruiting pre-registration pharmacists. This action will ensure our ongoing commitment to support multidisciplinary team working in general practice and primary care more widely. The marketing activity for the pharmacy phase, supporting Health Education and Improvement Wales and health boards, will launch at the British Pharmaceutical Students' Association later this month.

In May, the third year of the nursing campaign will launch at the Royal College of Nursing congress in Liverpool. The campaign is having a real impact through raising awareness of the career and lifestyle opportunities that are available here in Wales. Plans are also under way to further extend the campaign to include allied healthcare professionals. The campaign will promote the role of allied health professions, in particular as part of multidisciplinary teams in primary and community care. And I look forward to keeping Members updated.