Health board U-turns on waiting times plans

Powys Teaching Health Board has U-turned on a previous decision not to increase waiting times for patients treated in England to reduce Board costs.

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

At a meeting in January the board appeared to backtrack on plans to force patients to wait an extra 11 weeks for treatment across the border.

The move was originally considered as an option, with the health board facing a £9.9 million funding shortfall.

Cuts to services

At a board meeting on Wednesday morning (26 March) the board voted unanimously to support extending waiting times after the meeting was told that the Welsh Government was insistent that it meet its financial obligations and that without the change the deficit would increase to £38 million.

Board members were told that if the plan was not backed, services would be cut, and some medical staff contracts would be terminated.

The decision has been criticised by local politicians and the organisation that advocates for patients in Wales.

Devastating

Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and local Senedd Member for Brecon and Radnorshire in Powys, James Evans MS said: “Today’s decision by Powys Teaching Health Board is devastating for patients across Mid Wales.

“Far from tackling long waiting lists as they have promised, if the Welsh Labour Government do not step in now, they will be neglecting thousands of Welsh patients from rural communities.

“I repeat my plea to the Welsh Labour Government to fill this budget shortfall and protect Powys patients from this unacceptable decision.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said: “This is an utterly disgraceful decision. These plans should have been abandoned the first time they were proposed. It is utterly ridiculous that waiting times are going to be deliberately extended when we should be focused on cutting them.

“People in Mid Wales are fed up with drawing the short straw when it comes to public services, and residents pay their taxes like everyone else. They don’t choose to use hospitals in Shropshire and Herefordshire – it’s something they are forced to do because we don’t have any major hospitals of our own in Powys.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats will fight these proposals all the way and I will be raising it in Parliament at the earliest opportunity and joining the community in campaigning to reverse the decision made today.”

Mess

Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Member for Mid & West Wales Jane Dodds added: “We are ultimately in this mess because the Welsh Labour Government has run down healthcare services in Wales to such a degree.

“Patients in Powys are now expected to wait longer because the Welsh Government is essentially saying Shropshire and Herefordshire are ‘too good’ at treating patients quickly and they cannot afford to match the quality of service.

“Labour promised to improve health care services in the General Election, yet they are actively forcing Powys Health Board to worsen the treatment of patients in Powys. It is appalling.

“The Welsh Government needs to get to grips with tackling the long waiting lists in the rest of Wales, not forcing Powys to go down to the lowest denominator.”

Katie Blackburn, the regional director of the patient advocacy group Llais, described the plan as “quite disappointing”

“This proposal is in effect levelling down rather than levelling up,” she added, describing the move as a “short term decision that has long term implications.”