Senedd debate highlights ongoing health service fears

Patients in North Powys are being forced to wait far longer for treatment than people just across the border in England, according to Montgomeryshire MS Russell George.

Speaking during a Senedd debate this week, Mr George raised the case of a local resident who was told by the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry that they would not be offered a first outpatient appointment until they had been waiting close to a year. The hospital confirmed that Welsh commissioners had instructed them not to see patients sooner, despite having capacity to do so.

Mr George said this left Powys patients — including those in Newtown and surrounding communities — waiting up to 104 weeks for treatment, while English patients in the very same hospitals were being seen much faster.

“This has created a two-tier system,” he told Senedd Members. “If my constituent lived in England, they would be treated far sooner. Powys patients should not be treated as second-class citizens.”

The Senedd debate was triggered by a Welsh Conservative motion calling for a health emergency to be declared in Wales, highlighting figures showing more than 38,000 people have died while on NHS waiting lists since the 2021 Senedd election.

Mr George called for the Welsh Government to provide extra funding so Powys Teaching Health Board can buy treatment capacity in England based on English waiting time targets.

The Welsh Government, however, insisted that waiting times are starting to fall. Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment had dropped by 88% since 2022, and that Powys has received its share of the £120 million being invested to speed up care.

Mr Miles said: “We are absolutely focused on cutting waiting times. Long waits are falling, and the overall waiting list is beginning to come down despite record demand.”

But Mr George argued that the funding would not benefit patients in Powys who rely on English hospitals such as those in Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Telford for their care.

For many Newtown residents, those hospitals remain their nearest options for specialist treatment — but under current arrangements, they may still face some of the longest waits in Wales.