Now, the decision, as I highlighted yesterday, reflects very serious and outstanding concerns about the leadership, governance and progress, in particular in Glan Clwyd, including the vascular service and in the emergency department. And I'd like to make it absolutely clear that experiences like the one referred to—Reverend Jones, for example—are absolutely unacceptable. The example given by Gareth—again, all of these things are unacceptable, which is why we're putting these measures in place. I also have serious concerns about the allegations of bullying and harassment amongst staff that have been raised by Siân Gwenllian and others. This has not been ignored in the widening of the targeted intervention, and I have instructed the health board to review their approach to staff engagement, to ensure that these issues are addressed as part of their current targeted intervention escalations. And Carolyn, you're absolutely right that the voice of the staff needs to be heard.

Now, in taking this decision, I reflected on whether or not the health board should be escalated into special measures. I've decided that special measures, at this time, is not appropriate, and this is because the board and the chief executive have highlighted their determination to make progress, and have committed to addressing our concerns, and have already started to do so. I'm also mindful of the impact that the special measures status previously had on the health board's ability to recruit and retain staff—an issue that many of you have highlighted today—and the importance of being able to attract the right people into the organisation.

Special measures had a negative impact on the culture within the organisation, as they relied on others to make key decisions, rather than the health board developing their own solutions. And while we and the health board recognise that there are significant and serious failings, it is important to build confidence and support the organisation to be more aspirational, to be more ambitious, and to look forward to a better future. It's important that we support the health board to continue its improvement journey, and to promote an open culture, where problems are acknowledged and investigated, and we want to promote learning. A special measures designation will not achieve that. But, of course, if we don't see improvement, then that is still on the table as an option.

What will the trigger for that be? An example, for example, is the non-implementation of the action plan around vascular, and, therefore, building upon the existing programme for targeted intervention, as described in my statement yesterday. And, Russell, I'll tell you that I will be monitoring. I'm monitoring already on a fortnightly basis the action plan on vascular and we'll be watching for the impact of Improvement Cymru and the difference it can make in accident and emergency.

And I want to be clear that I have no intention to undertake a restructuring of hospital services in north Wales, and I'll tell you why. And, Ken, you asked what the short-term impact of this would be. It would be costly, it would distract from the work going on to improve services, and it would not in itself address the challenges the health board is facing, including the long waiting lists. It's essential that we support the health board to drive forward transformation and not undertake a disruptive restructure that diverts resources from patient care. I think it's important for us to recognise that we do listen to the voices of patients, and I also get many, many e-mails, I can assure you, from people in Betsi, and they're not saying, 'Please reorganise', they're saying, 'Speed up the time that you can do my hip operation', 'Help me with my cancer treatment', 'Make sure I can get quicker access to GPs'. I think one point that I'd like to make, and that is in response to Ken's, is that there does need to be more transparency in terms of the improvements that are being made and I've already asked the health board to act on that.