Cross-border Healthcare

Ann Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Llinos Medi (Ynys Môn) (PC)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing this important debate.

In January, the Welsh mental health charity Llais reported to the Welsh Affairs Committee that

“15-20% of people living in Wales use NHS services in England. In the border counties, this percentage is far higher and can be nearer 50%.”

Existing provisions aim to ensure that no patient’s treatment is denied or delayed due to differing rules or funding responsibilities across health systems on either side of the Wales-England border. None the less, the British Medical Association reports significant issues in how these provisions are offered. These systems can be complicated for patients, who are not always clear about who is responsible when their care and treatment cross the border. People living in Wales continue to face a range of challenges if they need care and treatment in England. Llais’s evidence referred to issues around announcements made by the UK media covering England-only stories. It is not clear whether the announcements apply for the people who live in Wales.

[Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)]

My constituent Michael Riordan has asked his GP to refer him to a facility available to armed forces veterans located in Shropshire but, due to an issue with cross-border funding, the Welsh NHS will not fund that facility, despite his residence not being an issue when he volunteered for service to his country. This excellent facility is now unavailable to Michael. Does my hon. Friend agree that current issues in cross-border funding must be addressed for the sake of our constituents?

[Llinos Medi]

That is another example of what we have already heard, where cross-border work is not working for a timely patient outcome. I agree with my hon. Friend.

Ensuring that cross-border health is as seamless as possible means developing strong partnership, introducing effective ways of sharing information and learning, communicating well, and making advice and information easily available and accessible. Solving these issues needs co-operation between Governments on both sides of the border.

It is just over a year since Eluned Morgan, the First Minister of Wales, announced a cross-border health plan. The Secretary of State for Wales, the right hon. Member for Cardiff East (Jo Stevens), vowed to deliver “additional surgical procedures”. When asked to provide an update on that programme in the Senedd last month, and on how many more patients in Wales have been treated in England over the past 12 months, the First Minister’s answer was vague and non-committal. It is obvious that the bureaucratic problem in making cross-border referrals, as evidenced by the British Medical Association and by Powys health board, which has asked to reduce the number of patients sent for treatment due to financial constraints, is completely at odds with the promise made by the First Minister and the Secretary of State. It seems increasingly clear that this announcement has not led to the changes that we all, and our constituents, would like to see on our waiting lists. Those remain stubbornly high in Wales, with figures showing 794,500 to 796,000 patient pathways as of mid-2025.

We are all aware of the huge pressures being placed on the NHS in Wales by social care. In April, the Welsh Local Government Association warned that plans to reduce NHS waiting lists in Wales will fall short unless we see targeted investment in social care. This week, my Plaid Cymru colleagues in the Senedd will follow that advice by calling for the establishment of a national care service for Wales. That would be a serious step in the right direction.

The people of Wales deserve better than poorly planned announcements leading nowhere. I encourage the Minister to impress upon her Welsh Government colleagues to throw their support behind our plan to get to grips with the high waiting list blighting our health service. Diolch.