Russell George MS has written to the First Minister demanding urgent action to prevent treatment delays for Powys patients in English hospitals - delays being introduced by Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) despite available capacity across the border.
The plans, originally considered by PTHB in January 2024, were dropped. Montgomeryshire MS, Russell George raised the issue with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, the First Minister and the Powys Health Board. However, the Board has now revived and approved similar measures for the 2025/26 financial year, with implementation due to begin in July 2025.
Highlighting that English waiting times are falling faster than in Wales, and that £16 million would be required to ensure Powys patients are treated in line with English waiting time targets, Mr George has asked the First Minister to confirm whether the Welsh Government will fund this gap or intervene to halt the plans.
Mr George has also asked for clarity on what discussions, if any, the Welsh Government has held with the UK Government on this cross-border issue, particularly given its repeated references to a “new partnership” between the Labour governments in Cardiff and Westminster.
Commenting, after sending the First Minister the letter, Mr George said:
“I have written to Eluned Morgan MS, asking her and her government to intervene to stop these unjust plans. Asking health providers in England to deliberately slow down treatment for Powys patients, even when there is clear capacity, should never have been on the table.
“This decision risks creating a two-tier healthcare system where Powys residents—who depend on hospitals in Shrewsbury, Telford, Oswestry, and Hereford; are forced to wait longer than English patients, even when treated by the same clinicians in the same hospitals.
“If the Welsh Government agrees that these plans are unacceptable, as the First Minister has suggested, then it must either provide the necessary funding or instruct PTHB to abandon this proposal.
“The people of Powys deserve timely, fair access to healthcare, not second-class treatment.”
