Cash strapped health board set to U-turn on plans to increase waits for cross-border treatment

Emily Price 

A cash strapped health board is set to U-turn on its plan to increase waiting times for cross-border treatment in order to tackle funding pressures.

Earlier this month, the Welsh Conservatives called on ministers to cover Powys Teaching Health Board’s £9.9 million funding shortfall to prevent deliberate extensions for patients in mid Wales.

As Powys has no district general hospital, nearly half of patients in the area receive their care in England.

The proposal would have seen patients forced to wait an extra 11 weeks for treatment.

But according to papers published today, the health board is now set to drop the plan.

Meeting 

At a meeting on Wednesday (29th January), health board members will instead be asked to approve no changes to elective activity.

A spokesperson for Powys Teaching Health Board said: “Following the meeting of Powys Teaching Health Board on 10 January 2025, further work has been undertaken to consider additional measures to improve this year’s financial position.

“This includes further consideration of the option to ask some NHS providers in England to slow down the delivery of planned care activity including outpatient appointments and inpatient procedures.

“An updated recommendation will be presented to the Board at a meeting in public on 29 January 2025. The full agenda and papers are available from our website with the opportunity to watch the meeting live.

“The paper recommends that the Board does not implement any changes to elective activity in quarter 4 of 2024/25, and notes that further work is required with providers to review the approach to commissioning activity in 2025/26 within available resources.

“We will ensure that the decisions of the Board are shared following the meeting on Wednesday.”

‘Common sense’

The Welsh Conservatives hailed the U-turn as a “victory for common sense”.

Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health James Evans said: “This shows what Welsh Conservatives can achieve even in opposition.

“The proposal should never have been considered in the first place, but is a symptom of Labour’s failure to adequately fund health in rural Welsh communities, like Powys.

“Welsh Conservatives like myself and my colleague Russell George have applied this pressure and delivered a change in policy. This makes me more optimistic about the positive change we can deliver to fix Wales in government.”

Tory MS for Montgomeryshire Russell George added: “The Health Board will further discuss the proposal this Wednesday, and I expect them to agree on a recommendation before them to drop the plan which would have seen Powys patients wait longer for treatment than their English counterparts.

“If the original proposals were agreed, it could have meant hospital waiting times extending by up to 11 weeks or longer for Powys residents. This was of course, unacceptable.

“I am feeling optimistic about the right outcome on Wednesday. There are, however, further questions about the longer-term financial support for our local Health Board.”