Labour plans to allow travel between England and Wales for NHS treatment
NHS patients in Wales will be allowed to travel to England to receive care for the first time ever under plans to be announced by the Welsh secretary on Monday.
Jo Stevens will tell the Labour conference in Liverpool that she is drawing up proposals to allow patients to travel between England and Wales to receive outpatient or elective treatment.
Stevens will say that the move will help reduce waiting lists on both sides of the border. But with NHS struggling in Wales even more than in England, experts say any movement is more likely to be from out of Wales, potentially placing further pressure on stretched NHS trusts in England.
Stevens said on Sunday: “Healthcare is one of the biggest shared challenges our two governments face and we are acting quickly to tackle it.
These practical, common sense steps could deliver real change on the ground for patients and clinicians.”
Source: The Guardian, 22 September 2024