Montgomeryshire Member of the Senedd, Russell George MS, has asked the Welsh government to intervene to prevent what he described as “indefensible” delays in cross-border NHS care for Powys residents.

In March, plans proposed by Powys Teaching Health Board were agreed that will ultimately lead to Powys patients facing slower access to treatment in English hospitals despite available capacity.

The health board said that the plans were brought forward for financial reasons, the plans also mean the Health Board would be aligning with NHS Wales’s slower performance targets rather than the typically faster standards in England.

The plan for 2025/2026 was unanimously approved at the meeting of Powys Teaching Health Board on 26th March. The Board said it needed to consider additional action to live within their means, and to respond to the financial expectations set out by Welsh Government.

It will mean hospitals in Hereford, Shrewsbury, Telford and Oswestry will be asked to operate on NHS Wales performance targets, slowing down treatment for Powys patients. These measures will begin from July 2025.

In an exchange in the Senedd this week, the MS requested an urgent statement of position from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles MS, asking the Welsh Government to ensure Powys Health Board is funded adequately to meet English waiting time targets for Powys residents referred across the border.

Mr George raised the matter in the Senedd.

In response, speaking on behalf of the Government, Jane Hutt MS, insisted that Powys residents are not being treated unfairly. She noted that Powys' reliance on cross-border and commissioned care in England is long-standing and stated the provision of extra funding for these services.

Mr George also raised concern over the lack of a formal response to his earlier letter to the First Minister, sent nearly four weeks earlier, calling for clarity and urgency in addressing what he described as a “time-sensitive matter.” Following raising in the Senedd, Mr George said on checking his email box following the exchange, a letter from the Health Minister, Jeremy Miles MS, had been received.

In the letter, Jeremy Miles MS confirmed that the Welsh Government has allocated £12.5 million in additional funding to Powys Teaching Health Board for 2024-25. Mr Miles defended the Government’s approach, with an acknowledgment of the additional cost to the health board of the commissioning position for Powys residents being treated in England to meet the Welsh waiting times target.

Commenting, Mr George said: “Asking health providers in England to slow down the delivery of care for Powys patients, despite there being sufficient capacity, is indefensible. It is not acceptable for Powys patients to be treated as second-class citizens.

“I raised this with the First Minister back in March, and I was pleased she agreed that the situation was unacceptable, I followed up the matter in a formal letter, and it is disappointing to have to wait nearly four weeks for a response.

“The Welsh Governments response to me is disingenuous. Given the First Minister’s repeated responses to me that the situation was unacceptable, the question I put to her and the health minister asked if the Government would ensure Powys Teaching Health Board is funded to a point where it is able to buy healthcare capacity in England based on English waiting times.

‘’In the Governments response, they have not answered this question and instead, simply confirm that money was provided to meet the much slower Welsh waiting time target. This means that the Welsh Government, while saying the situation is not acceptable, are indeed now accepting that Powys patients will wait longer than English patients even when being treated in the same hospital and being seen by the same health professionals, simply because they live in Powys.

“There is further scrutiny needed on the Welsh Government position, they can’t have it both ways, stating the position is not acceptable, when they are ultimately responsible for the Welsh NHS and Powys patients.”