Mental health will be central to the support that we will be providing over the winter months. It will remain an essential service, irrespective of the pressures that we are likely to face. In terms of primary care, including GP services, there will be a real focus on respiratory illness, making sure that patients are able to access primary care when they need it. It's important to note that this could be via a virtual appointment, although face-to-face appointments will be available if necessary. We will be asking community pharmacies to step up, once again, as they've continued to do throughout the pandemic.

On planned care, we will be honest with the public, and will explain that it will be tough to work through the high numbers on our waiting lists over the winter. We may even need to flex the system and reduce the numbers receiving planned care if the pressure on the system continues to mount. However, we will ensure that health boards keep in touch with people waiting, and will offer them the support and pain relief that they may need during this difficult time. In the meantime, we will work up further how we intend to drive forward with reforms in order to make significant inroads into the waiting lists, and we will give further detail on these plans at our planned care summit in November.

The Senedd will be aware that the pressures on our urgent and emergency care system are huge. We have a very clear plan set out on how to address this issue, including the national roll-out of 111, the use of the military for support, an increased focus on timely ambulance patient handover, and the triage of patients in emergency departments. One of the areas that we will really focus on is the importance of standing by and supporting our care services. We will give further details on this later this week, but I cannot emphasise enough how much we need to support our care services and our care workers during this challenging time. If we want to discharge people from hospital, we need to know that they will be supported in the community, and we will continue to work with our local authorities to deliver this.

Finally, we cannot do any of this without our incredible care and health workforce. We will stand by them and support them as they enter the toughest time in their history. The health service will be pushed to its limits this winter, and we ask the public to use these services wisely, prudently, and to play their part to get us through this winter together. Thank you very much.