NHSE said that it had made progress in some areas, partly where necessity during the Covid 19 pandemic had driven the adoption of technology. NHSE highlighted the advice and guidance scheme, which allows GPs to request specialist input without going through a full referral. This scheme had seen continued growth with 1.1 million requests expected to go through the system this year. To incentivise the use of this system, NHSE are making payments to GPs who have used the system.30 The NAO reported that NHSE had aimed to achieve 16 specialist advice requests for every 100 patients by March 2023. This target was exceeded in the first month of reporting (22 per 100 in June 2022).31 23 Committee of Public Accounts evidence session on 28 November 2022, Managing NHS backlogs and waiting times, see Q98 24 Q 32 25 C&AG’s Report, para 2.26 26 Q 32 27 Q 34 28 Q 66 29 Q 57 30 Qq 43-45 31 C&AG’s Report, para 2.26 10 Delivery of surgical and diagnostic hubs