Thank you for the series of questions. In terms of the support being provided to the health board, I outlined that in my statement. My officials and the delivery unit are providing support and challenge in addition to the co-opting of senior leadership support from experienced midwives in neighbouring health boards, and in addition, of course, to the steps that the health board themselves have taken.

And I note the point you make about the numbers of staff. The point I was simply making was that a number of staff of the 15 that have been recruited are due to start this week, as opposed to recruiting 15 and they won't necessarily come on stream to work in the service for a period of months. So, that's why we can be confident that antenatal classes will start in the near future, because they will have additional staff there within the week. 

On the point you ended on—the point about the surveillance—again, in the statement I made reference to a number of different points that do help us to have an overview and a look: the Birthrate Plus tool that we look at for staff numbers and the fact that they'd withdrawn from antenatal classes because they had a short-term challenge on staff numbers. Those are things we definitely look at, in addition to the broader performance boards going through the range of issues that I outlined in my statement. All of those things will matter, and the chief nurse and her officials will review those together with the health board. 

Now, I'm not aware, and my officials are not aware, that there is a similar issue of concern in any other health board in Wales. However, we have not waited until an issue has been reported. My officials have been in direct contact with health boards, and the chief nurse has written to all health boards seeking formal assurance about the quality of care being provided, including issues around staffing and for that assurance to be provide within the next two weeks. So, we are not waiting for there to be a challenge uncovered. We are seeking that assurance, as I'm sure you would expect us to do. 

I don't think the health board are downplaying the seriousness of the challenge. They understand very well that this is a serious matter that needs to be properly reviewed, as any other health board would do. And what should happen in every health board is that, of course, a serious incident is reviewed and learning taken from it. That is, I think, the normal process that was being referred to, but, of course, this additional measure and the measures that the health boards themselves are proposing to undertake are not usual, everyday occurrences. You don't ask two royal colleges to come and review your practice as an everyday, standard course of action.

I'm happy to finally deal with your point about staff shortages potentially being a factor, and also the royal colleges will. It's part of the concern and it will be part of the terms of the colleges to look at whether those staff shortages play a part or not. It'll also be part of them looking at whether it's clinical practice or clinical leadership—the whole range of factors that we'd want to properly understand to make recommendations for the future. In that sense, if the royal colleges wish to go further, then their terms of reference will not restrict them to an artificial review. They will have the scope to look where they need to, provide the sort of review that they themselves, professionally, would want to sign up to, and to give us and the wider public the sort of confidence that we'd all want to have.