Few proposals have caused as much concern across Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe as Powys Teaching Health Board's plan to remove inpatient beds from all but two of the county's community hospitals. The proposal would see Ystradgynlais, Builth Wells, Knighton, Bronllys, Welshpool, Llanidloes, Machynlleth and Llandrindod Wells losing their inpatient wards.

If these proposals go ahead, more elderly relatives and vulnerable patients will end up being treated many miles from home, making it harder for loved ones to visit and support them when they need it most.

Years of Welsh Government underfunding have left Powys Teaching Health Board with a deficit of over £45 million, and it is that shortfall driving these proposals. This is not an isolated problem. Social care across Britain is under such pressure that hospitals cannot discharge patients quickly enough, which is exactly why cuts like these are now happening.

That is why I raised this directly with Sir Keir Starmer during his final Prime Minister's Questions. Although healthcare is devolved, social care is a UK-wide challenge, and I told him these proposals are a symptom of a much bigger problem.

We now have a new Prime Minister. Andy Burnham has said he wants to work across party lines to reform social care, and I welcome that. Liberal Democrats have argued for years that properly funding and reforming social care is one of the biggest challenges facing this country, both to improve care for those who need it and to protect the NHS and keep services local.

For Powys, this is more than a national policy debate. Get social care right, and we can protect our community hospitals and treat more people closer to home. Get it wrong, and more families will see loved ones sent further away from the support they need.

The Prime Minister has made a promise. For the sake of families across Powys, he needs to keep it.