But there is more than just the CHC situation that forms the basis of our concerns. This Bill claims that it provides quality at the heart of making decisions, but doesn’t mention specifically the quality of workforce, preventing ill health, reducing inequalities, the need to ensure that Welsh speakers aren’t treated as second-class citizens— fails to set those standards clearly on the face of the Bill. And even though we do welcome the certainty from the Minister that those things are not being forgotten, we do feel that failing to put that on the face of the Bill is a backward or retrograde step. We all accept the need for workforce levels to be incorporated in legislation when we supported the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016, and the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing are among the bodies who have emphasised the importance of this. That is an issue we definitely want to return to.

Turning to the duty of candour, simply, we don’t feel that this is strong enough to meet the aspirations of the Francis report and all of the other reports that have recommended this. It is an improvement on the status quo—we recognise that—but it could have gone much further. So, we have to question whether this Bill will genuinely improve the NHS and our care services. That’s the wrong way ahead for us. What we would have liked to have seen was a piece of legislation that had a duty of candour that was much stronger within it, and establishing a professional regulatory body for managers—something that we’ve called consistently for during these discussions—incorporating workforce planning within the legislation, and then protecting the voice of our patients in every part of Wales. So, for those reasons, we are not going to be able to support this Bill. It asks officials to focus on the wrong kind of change and for not enough benefit.