Mr. Tony O'Brien:

It is beside the point, but I am stating it as a fact. We did not want to break the fundamental unit in the previous environment, which was the local health office. There was no particular need to do so. I will respond to the direct question that was asked by expressing my view that there is a good degree of confidence among staff and managers in CHOs that they can significantly improve the quality, extent and organisation of the services for which they are responsible. I think there is a significant degree of frustration within the hospital groups, particularly at senior level, about the fact that their journey has become unclear. They would have expected that by now, legislation would have been introduced to provide for boards and to make accountability very clear. The hospital groups would have expected to have a degree of freedom they do not currently have. That would be the primary source of frustration.

I am happy to repeat what I said at the time, which is that the hospital groups were not all created equally. Some of them will be more successful than others. At various points in time, their boundaries, organisation and number may need to be revisited, reviewed and changed. I believe that in principle, we are already seeing benefits from the hospital groups. Some of those benefits were referenced previously by some of the chief executives. I return to the Chairman's point that the decisions which were made when the hospital groups were being created came from one place and the decisions which were made when the CHOs were being established came from another place. I believe the boundaries for the CHOs are well evidenced and sustainable.