NHS in England told to keep Welsh patients waiting

NHS patients from Wales who need knee and hip operations in England face lengthy delays after a health board asked English hospitals to copy Wales' longer waiting times.

Powys health board announced the change as it could not afford the cost of how quickly operations over the border were being carried out, but patients have said they were not informed.

Mel Wallace, 59, from Howey, Powys, was initially told she would have a 12-month wait for her hip replacement, but now faces another 45-week wait after already waiting 59 weeks.

Health board chief executive Hayley Thomas said people in the area "should be treated in the same timeframe as residents of anywhere else in Wales".

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Source: BBC News, 4 August 2025