SAM ROWLANDS, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has called for reassurances that NHS patients in his region do not wait longer for treatments in England.
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands, who constantly expresses concern over long NHS waiting lists for patients in North Wales, asked Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales what discussions he has had with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care regarding the referral of patients from North Wales to the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen.
Mr Rowlands said: “One of the issues that a number of my constituents have raised with me recently is that when they are being referred through to Gobowen hospital for those orthopaedic procedures, they’ve been told that they will have to wait longer for those procedures than patients on the same list who are resident in England, which obviously is causing them much distress.
“But, when I contacted Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board about this, they said that that is not correct, so somebody’s clearly mishandling the truth, to say the least. And on these benches, you will have heard the concerns that we’ve raised about reports that Welsh NHS patients waiting for treatment in England are being forced to endure longer delays after the Welsh health board instructed those hospitals to align waiting times with Wales’s significantly longer waits.
“I’m sure you’d agree that it is not acceptable for my residents in North Wales that patients in North Wales are having to wait longer in pain, not because the capacity isn’t there, but because it’s not being properly accessed, at the direction of Welsh health boards.
“Will you give reassurances that action will be taken by the Welsh Government to ensure that north Wales patients are not deliberately forced to wait longer for treatments in England simply to conceal the failures of the Welsh NHS?”
Ken Skates said: “I can assure the Member that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board have not made any changes to their contractual arrangements with Gobowen.
“I believe that there is some confusion, and that confusion, I think, can be addressed through a factual briefing that I’ll ask the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to provide all Members with.
“I’m also happy to meet with Gobowen hospital itself, and Betsi Cadwaladr, with yourself, Sam Rowlands.”
Mr Rowlands added: “I welcome the opportunity to gain more clarity about this issue as I am constantly receiving emails from constituents who quite rightly are very concerned about waiting times for their treatment.
“It certainly does not seem right that by being referred to an English hospital should mean an even longer wait.”
