David Chadwick Launches Bid to Protect Cross-Border Patients

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick has tabled amendments to the Government’s Health Bill that would pave the way for stronger legal protections for patients who rely on cross-border healthcare.

The move follows growing anger over Powys Teaching Health Board’s decision to ask English hospitals to treat Powys residents more slowly than patients from England as a cost-cutting measure.

As of the 7th September, no Welsh Labour or Plaid Cymru MPs have signed up to support the amendment; all have been invited to do so directly.

For residents of Powys, cross-border healthcare is a fact of life, with at least 40% of people relying on hospitals across the border in England, including Hereford, Shrewsbury, Telford and Oswestry.

However, since July last year, Powys Teaching Health Board has asked English providers to apply longer waiting times to Powys residents, despite those patients previously being treated equally alongside English residents.

The policy has left some patients facing waits of up to two years for treatment, with residents reporting being left in pain, seeing their conditions deteriorate and, in some cases, being unable to remain in work while they wait.

David Chadwick has repeatedly raised concerns over the policy and has now tabled two New Clauses to the Government’s Health Bill aimed at strengthening the framework governing healthcare between England and Wales.

Currently, cross-border healthcare is governed by the England/Wales Cross-border Healthcare Services: Statement of Values and Principles, which was first agreed in 2018. The Statement says that the safety and wellbeing of patients should be paramount and that treatment should not be delayed because of uncertainty over which NHS body is responsible for funding a patient’s care.

However, the Statement is voluntary and is not legally binding.

Under New Clause 134, the UK Health Secretary would be required to work with Welsh Ministers to update the existing Statement to reflect the problems facing cross-border patients today.

The UK Government would then be required, within two years, to bring forward proposals to place the principles governing cross-border healthcare on a formal statutory footing.

The issue has also been examined by the Welsh Affairs Committee, of which David Chadwick is a member, amid wider concerns about the difficulties patients can face when accessing healthcare across the England-Wales border.

David Chadwick, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, said:

“People in Powys should not be treated as second-class patients simply because they live on the Welsh side of the border.

“For thousands of my constituents, travelling to England for healthcare is not a choice. It is simply how our NHS works. Yet patients are being left to fall through the cracks between two different health systems.

“We now have the absurd situation where an English hospital can have the capacity to treat one of my constituents sooner, but that patient can be made to wait longer simply because their home is a few miles across the border in Wales.

“The principles that are supposed to govern cross-border healthcare are eight years old and remain voluntary. The problems we are seeing in Powys demonstrate why that is no longer good enough.

“My amendments would require the UK and Welsh Governments to get around the table, update these arrangements and take the first steps towards putting proper legal protections in place for cross-border patients.

“The border should never be a barrier to receiving healthcare. If the capacity exists to treat someone, they should not be deliberately left waiting in pain because of an administrative line on a map.

“I hope that the Labour Government and opposition parties will back my amendment and work together to improve the lives of people in Powys.”

ENDS