In his latest column for MyWelshpool, Montgomeryshire Senedd Member, Russell George, tackles the Welsh Government's 'spin' on waiting times.
"Earlier this month, the Welsh Government claimed that no patient in Powys is waiting more than two years for treatment.
Let me be absolutely clear: that is simply not true.
This claim, made by the First Minister and repeated by the Health Secretary, flies in the face of the facts and shows a dangerous misunderstanding, or worse, a deliberate misrepresentation of how health services are delivered for people in Powys.
Unlike other counties in Wales, Powys does not have a District General Hospital. Our residents are instead referred to hospitals across the border in England, or in other parts of Wales. That means when the Welsh Government says, “no one in Powys is waiting more than two years,” they are not counting the very patients who are actually waiting for treatment, just because they’re not being treated in Powys.
When I raised with the First Minister in the Senedd last week, she admitted to me that there are at least 81 patients from Powys who have been waiting over two years, 40 of whom are waiting in English hospitals.
The Welsh Government’s only response was to shift blame to the English NHS, calling it “slow.”, but that doesn’t wash because we know that English treatment times for English patients are much faster than the Welsh waiting times.
What the Welsh Government conveniently failed to mention is that it is Powys Teaching Health Board that has asked English hospitals to deliberately slow down treatment for Powys patients due to Powys Health Boards financial situation, a financial situation that they have consistently asked the Welsh Government to address. Why? because the Welsh Government refuses to fund treatment based on the faster English waiting time targets. Instead, Powys patients will be forced to wait longer because they are funded under slower Welsh targets, even when the English hospitals have capacity to treat them sooner.
This is a betrayal of patients who have already waited far too long for the care they need and deserve.
When I challenged the Health Secretary and the First Minister on this, I was met with spin and deflection. They say the statistics are accurate because they only count patients being treated by Powys Health Board and not those from Powys being treated elsewhere. This is like saying there’s no housing crisis because there are no rough sleepers in a village without any shelters.
The Welsh Government must stop playing games with the figures and start being honest with the people of Powys. If 81 people from Powys are waiting more than two years for treatment, then that is the figure that matters, not how it looks on a government spreadsheet.
Let’s not forget, these are real people behind these numbers. People in pain. People waiting for hip and knee replacements, cancer treatment, and vital operations. They deserve transparency, not distortion.
It’s time for the Welsh Government to treat Powys patients fairly and fund their care based on the services they actually use, regardless of which side of the border they’re on.
What should happen is the Welsh Government should provide Powys Teaching Health Board the finance they need, in order for the health board to be able to pay English providers for treating Powys patients, based on the much faster English waiting times.
The health of Powys patients should not be a postcode lottery."
