Yes. Well, we regret that the Minister for Health and Social Services has failed until now to prevent this decision from being made. We further regret that the number of working days lost due to stress and mental health-related issues in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has increased by 20 per cent since 2014. And we note that the health board has been in special measures for more than four years and is therefore under the direct control of the Minister. I move amendments 2, 3 and 4 accordingly.

Effective management understands that stress and burnout are primary causes of high staff absenteeism, as are the low morale and lack of motivation that occur when staff feel undervalued and under-appreciated. Yesterday, the health board's chief executive wrote to members regarding the changes to shifts for nurses and healthcare support workers, stating:

'Staff should not be paid for breaks other than in those circumstances set out.'

He added that the health board had consulted its staff and trade union partners over the proposed changes. However, the Unite union's regional co-ordinating officer stated yesterday that staff are angry and are willing to take industrial action, which he had never heard nurses say before. 

Many nurses have written to me and the following quotes are theirs:

'If Betsi proceeds with their current plans they risk alienating further the staff they depend on. Also recruitment to fill vacant posts with are already difficult to fill and will be negatively affected.'

'I do not know how someone working fulltime with a family will be able to manage. I am seriously considering leaving my profession and I know of many others thinking of doing the same, which will not help the national shortage problem.'

'The change is reactive and has small chance of helping to redress the agency budget, and will have a knock on effect...on staff engagement...that will lead to greater difficulties in the long term'.

'In a 12 and a half hour shift...breaks are vital but due to the workload we wouldn't always take our breaks or they would be disturbed or shorter than needed. Making the breaks unpaid will not change this'.

'I am almost always the only Band 7 midwife on a night shift. This means that I am never able to take my break. I never claim time back...if this proposed change comes into force, I will be claiming every second extra that I work and I am sure that all of my colleagues will too'.

When I wrote to this health Minister with these concerns, he replied that neither he nor his officials can intervene in operational matters. Well, if special measures is to mean anything, the Welsh Government must take responsibility and act. Or has it now blinked? Because the local press announced just two hours ago that the health board has now, belatedly, u-turned.