Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 3 July 2019.
Minister, I was pleased to visit a community pharmacy in my constituency earlier this week, and I had a very positive conversation with the pharmacist about the services he offers and indeed some of the challenges he faces as well. One of the issues he raised was the NHS computer system, which is used to store patient information. He feels he's greatly hampered by the long-winded process of logging on to a computer system that appears to struggle to download basic information. Whilst, of course, personal data must be kept secure, I'm told that on occasion it can actually take up to 20 minutes to get through the security logins to provide a service for the patient that should only take around five minutes. I'm sure the Minister will agree with me that it's important to access information in a timely manner, especially when a patient is waiting. Will he and his officials therefore look into this matter to make sure that pharmacies are able to provide an efficient service, given that pharmacies are providing more and more services to patients?