Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Members will be aware that it was only earlier today that Hywel Dda university health board presented the outcome of their recent consultation on transforming clinical services, and they confirmed their recommended way forward for changes to services across the health board area. The recommendations were presented by clinicians who work in west Wales, and those clinicians are making a case for the future of healthcare in the communities that they serve, and I think that they deserve our respect. Regardless of our view on the future, they deserve our respect for making a case for change in a difficult and highly contested environment.

You will also be aware that the proposals that the health board has only just confirmed are not the end of the process. The arrangements for proposing significant changes to health services in Wales are set out in the guidance for consultation on changes to health services, and that guidance clearly sets out my role in the process, including that I may be called upon to take final decisions on a health board's plans if agreement cannot be reached locally. You will, therefore, appreciate that, despite all of the kind and gentle—and less kind and gentle—urgings, I won’t comment specifically on any of the proposals that Hywel Dda university health board has confirmed today, as doing so may prejudice any future role that I may have to play in the process.

So, my comments this afternoon will be restricted to reminding Members why services across Wales must change—