MS questions £70 payments to NHS workshop attendees

Nation.Cymru staff

An MS has asked Powys Teaching Health Board to justify paying people £70 each to attend research workshops on the future of local NHS services while a public consultation is under way.

Rebeca Phillips, MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd has written to acting chief executive Pete Hopgood asking what the workshops will contribute beyond the consultation and how the health board will ensure those taking part are broadly representative of Powys residents.

Opinion Research Services is running the workshops on behalf of the health board, with FieldMouse recruiting participants.

Ms Phillips’s office said Opinion Research Services confirmed that the £70 payments come from the consultation budget and that people working in certain professions or organisations, including the NHS, are excluded.

“At a time when the Health Board’s budget is stretched, I urge Mr Hopgood to justify how these paid workshops represent a good use of public money,” Ms Phillips said. “I am particularly concerned that when financial incentives are offered, there is a risk of people’s opinions being influenced.”

She added: “I also question why the Health Board feels the need to pay two agencies to undertake this work when a public consultation that is meant to serve the exact same purpose is ongoing.”

Ms Phillips said she had intended to ask about the workshops in a supplementary question in the Senedd on Wednesday. She said she lost the opportunity when Reform UK MS James Evans, who was due to ask the initial question on rural healthcare, was absent during his party’s boycott of the chamber.

Hospital changes

The health board’s Better Together consultation covers adult physical and mental health services, urgent care and some diagnostic services. It closes on 10 January 2027, with decisions expected in the spring.

Under both physical health options, inpatient services would move out of Bronllys and Llanidloes within two years of a decision, followed by Machynlleth and Ystradgynlais by the end of year four. Services would later move out of Welshpool under either option. The final model would retain inpatient beds in Brecon and Newtown, with Llandrindod Wells retaining beds under one of the two options.

The board says any changes would be phased in over several years and that it would strengthen community services alongside changes to hospital care.

Ms Phillips urged residents to respond to the consultation. Details of public events and the questionnaire are available on the Better Together consultation page.