By Ruth Mosalski

Copyright walesonline

On September 23, 2024, a news story circulated revealing a plan for more cross-border NHS treatment with Welsh patients able to go to England for treatment. The announcement, on the eve of Labour’s UK conference, was trailed and said the UK and Welsh governments would collaborate on healthcare for the first time in an effort to drive down waiting lists on both sides of the border. A report in the Guardian after the initial briefing suggested more patients from Wales would be able to go for England for treatment. However this was not explicitly mentioned during the conference and later reports said only that the two governments would collaborate to bring down waiting lists. However confusion reigned and when the Welsh secretary Jo Stevens was asked more about it she struggled to say exactly what it meant. While Ms Stevens had said the collaboration would bring down waiting lists Wales’ First Minister said the partnership working was about best practice and not bringing down waiting times. The health secretary in Wales said there was to be no option for patients in Wales to opt for treatment in England and there was explicit no promise on waiting lists coming down as a result of the collaboration, which was instead about sharing expertise. On Tuesday, exactly a year on, the Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth asked Ms Morgan for an update. In the weekly First Minister’s Questions session he asked: “Can the First Minister provide an update on this programme and how many more patients from Wales have been treated in England over the past 12 months?” Ms Morgan was unable to give numbers – though said she would provide them at a later date – and added a ministerial advisory group had been brought in for Wales to learn from the rest of the United Kingdom what they were doing well. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . “I can give you numbers as to the number of people who are treated in England from Wales – this is not something new; this has always, always happened – if you want me to find those numbers for you. “But I think it’s probably worth pointing out as well that the number of people from England who choose to have their GPs in Wales is significantly higher than the other way around,” she said. Mr ap Iorwerth said her answer was “vaguer” than he expected. “Isn’t it really the case that, as we suspected at the time, this announcement was little more than something to announce at conference with a lot of fanfare but very little substance?” he said. Ms Morgan told Senedd members: “There are too many people waiting for too long on waiting lists in Wales and it’s right that we give every opportunity to try and clear those and if that means sending some people to England so be it. “That’s particularly true in Powys, which is on the border. “I don’t make any apologies for that. “I think it’s really important that we take advantage of that.”