NHS: Give Wales patients right to English care - minister

There are more than 700,000 "patient pathways" waiting for treatment in Wales

Patients on long NHS Wales waiting lists should have the "right" to be treated more quickly by going to hospitals in England, according to Welsh Secretary David TC Davies.

He spoke after the UK government said it wants to work with the Welsh government to help cut waiting times.

The Welsh government has been asked to comment.

UK minister Steve Barclay invited Welsh and Scottish ministers to discuss how to "get patients seen more quickly".

He said he would be "open to requests" for Welsh and Scottish patients who were "waiting lengthy periods" to be treated in England.

But a source in the UK government's Department for Health and Social Care confirmed that Welsh government would have to pay for extra treatment for Welsh patients in England, in line with existing arrangements.

They would not confirm whether there was sufficient capacity in the English NHS to take extra Welsh patients.

The Welsh government declined to respond directly to the offer of talks, and has previously said long waiting list times were "falling every month in Wales".

Health services in Wales are run by the Welsh government but some NHS patients travel to England for treatment.

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Monmouth MP Mr Davies said: "I think what Steve Barclay is saying is that it is a National Health Service... and the clue [is] in the name, and everyone across the United Kingdom is paying the same amount of tax towards the NHS.

"And it is therefore manifestly wrong that some people in parts of the United Kingdom are waiting over two years for treatment. That will never happen, quite frankly, where the Conservatives are running the NHS.

'That's fine, that's a great thing'

"So we're offering to give patients in Wales the same rights that they would get in England, which is that if they are prepared to travel, they can go to any hospital which can offer them the treatment they need and get treated".

"Steve Barclay is just saying, look, we're all part of the United Kingdom, and patients in Wales who want to be, if they want to be treated in England, should have that right. And that's fine, that's a great thing".

Mr Barclay, who is responsible for the NHS in England, said the proposed talks would be aimed at "building on the current arrangements for cross-border healthcare".

Figures published last month showed hospital waiting lists had risen again in Wales, although A&E waiting times had improved despite record numbers turning up at emergency units.

According to the statistics there were 748,395 "patient pathways" waiting for hospital treatment in May.

Patient pathways refer to the total number of waits, rather than people waiting, as some may be on more than one waiting list.

In England, the latest waiting list for hospital treatment topped 7.5m people for the first time.

Nearly 780,000 hospital appointments have been postponed because of strike action since last December with NHS England saying that was a factor in the rising number of people waiting for treatment.

The NHS in Scotland is also facing record waiting times.

In a statement, Mr Barclay said: "I hugely value being able to share knowledge and experiences on the joint challenges facing our healthcare systems".

"I want to support collaboration between our nations to share best practices, improve transparency and provide better accountability for patients".

"This will help to ensure we are joined up when it comes to cutting waiting lists - one of the government's top five priorities - and will allow us to better work together to improve performance and get patients seen more quickly, " Mr Barclay added.

But Wes Streeting, UK Labour's shadow health secretary, said: "The only advice the Tories are qualified to offer is how to wreck the NHS and cause the biggest strikes in its history."

Welsh Conservative health spokesman Russell George said: "People's health is more important than politics or boundaries.

"We have a problem here in Wales with long-term waiting lists on the Welsh NHS, one which the Welsh government is struggling to get down.

"I hope the Welsh government will accept the UK government's offer of support to ensure that no-one has to wait anywhere near two years for treatment in pain, in agony, putting their lives on hold."

Although the Welsh government declined to directly respond to Mr Barclay's offer, it previously said: "Wales includes more referrals in its waiting times statistics than England does.

"Long waiting times are falling every month in Wales and have more than halved in the past year.

"The overall growth in waiting lists in Wales has been smaller in Wales than in England over the last 12 months - it grew by 3.6% in Wales and by 12.1% in England."

It also said Wales had outperformed England in major emergency department performance in nine of the past 10 months, adding patients were treated according to clinical urgency.