Thank you for the series of questions. I recognise your point about the length of time and the fact there has been lobbying, and, again, recognise that the Member for Torfaen has brought a delegation of Members to see me in the short time I’ve been the Cabinet Secretary on more than one occasion, and I’ve always found her assertive and charming, you’ll be delighted to know. This has been an issue over time, but we’ve made a choice and I’ve done what I said I would do. I’m not going to rehearse about what’s happened in the past, the length of time it’s taken to get here; it’s important to look at where we are now and what we will now do with the significant investment and the challenges that brings, both about delivering this project but the challenge it brings in other parts of the estate, not just in Gwent but beyond as well. The services at Nevill Hall and Royal Gwent that you refer to as ‘creaking’, well, part of the challenge is that if we hadn’t made a decision and given some permanency about what was going to happen here and a real definitive statement, actually those services would have been in an even more challenged position. So, the decision is really important for those services as they exist now, and having a proper input so that when some of those services are then challenged into a more appropriate setting that actually will be better for staff and the patient.

It goes to your point about access, because, indeed, you made this point as well about who would be going to the SCCC—what sort of patients will be going there? Actually, for those people, you want access to the best quality care, that’s what you want. You don’t want access to local care if it isn’t the best and if it isn’t appropriate care as well. This is about delivering on appropriate care in the appropriate place: specialist centres delivering specialist care, other hospitals delivering other forms of care, and then primary and community care as well. In fact, Aneurin Bevan have a good record of the change they are delivering within primary and community care services. I made the announcement in Cwmbran, deliberately visiting a service in Cwmbran that recognises a link between the local authority, the national health service, therapists and scientists, but, in particular, seeing two consultants who come out of their hospital base on a regular basis to attend those clinics and be part of the team. That multidisciplinary team working is already part of the reality. The challenge will be, in the future, making sure that the model that Clinical Futures sets out and more broadly, right across NHS and social care, is delivered on a more consistent basis, so we really do have the right care at the right time and in the right place.

On your point about 2022, one big bang, well, we’ll have to operate a system in parallel to make sure services don’t just suddenly disappear, but, actually, the practical decanting and moving of services isn’t something that has been part of my decision now. It’s really a practical operational matter for the health board to get right with those commissions that are delivering the services and with the citizens who are taking part in those services as well. So, I think you will see some gradual movement, and, as in every new building, the building is open before the official opening to understand what is and isn’t working there. So, I think you’ll see, over a period of time, a transition that we can have some confidence in from previous projects as well. It will have to be delivered on time, it will have to be delivered within budget—that’s part of the procurement challenge as well, but the challenge also is to make sure that there is a proper seamless transition into those services for staff and the citizens they serve.