Mr. Ian Tegerdine:

Absolutely. To answer the Chairman's question, it would be disappointing if the board was not cited. We have made clear the reason we want to engage with it in a conversation on these employees.

To respond to the other committee member's question concerning the impact on patient care, there would be a process of escalation as we moved towards a potential financial sanction. The board would have to consider this, as well as its duty to ensure safe patient care.

The other question was on what we call "red-circling" in the document. Is it okay to continue to pay those who had arrangements in place before the change under a red-circling arrangement? It may not be desirable, but, unfortunately, it is legally unbreakable. Hence, the only way we can cope with this is to say we have a personal arrangement for the persons concerned that will not continue after them. We have taken full legal advice on this issue, which was the obvious thing to do. With the employing agencies, we are clear that this is an unbreakable arrangement.