Cross-border red tape delays are causing an “unacceptable clinical risk” for patients, a GP has told a parliamentary committee.

The Welsh Affairs Committee examined how healthcare could work better for people on both sides of the border with England at its meeting on Wednesday (January 22).

Dr David Bailey, former chair of the Welsh Council of the British Medical Association, told MPs and guests that while a patient could change GPs in a day or so inside both countries, that was not the case when moving across borders.

“It needs some joined-up thinking,” said Dr Bailey.

“It can take eight to 10 weeks to go from country to country and that is an unacceptable clinical risk.”

Dr Bailey said there is one GP list in England and another one in Wales, and GPs would “love to combine them”.

Responding to Russell George, MS for Montgomeryshire, Dr Bailey said the only thing that needed to be done was to get “everyone to agree that the criteria submitted is accepted and… bang.”

The meeting also heard examples of when healthcare had let patients down, including when a cancer patient was moved from Hereford Hospital to an end-of-life facility in Wales. The end-of-life facility had been unable to access the case notes.

Dr Bailey said there had been a “lack of political will” to sort issues out.

Dr Stephen Kelly, chair of Welsh consultants committee, based at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said in one case he had to chase a cross-border patient’s physical notes after the patient could not remember the name of the consultant he was seeing.

“Access to systems would be incredibly helpful,” he said.

Dr Bailey also said that waiting lists are shorter in England than Wales and that “Welsh patients are being disadvantaged.”

A second session of the committee on the same afternoon heard from health chief executives.

Carol Shillabeer, Chief Executive, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said the NHS across the border works together well but “further collaboration is welcome”

Simon Whitehouse, Chief Executive, NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board said there are “challenges in funding and capacity” but that clinicians want to deliver care that is “clinically based and managed well”.

Ms Shillabeer said there is collaboration between Wales and England, and said that everyone “wants to help” tackle issues.

Mr Whitehouse said there were “really clear arrangements” between the Shrewsbury & Telford Hospitals Trust and the Powys Health Teaching Board to give patients from Powys the urgent and emergency care they need.

“The Integrated Care Board works closely with trusts to map and consider demand,” he said.

The meeting was told that Welsh patients in England are on shorter English waiting lists but English patients in Wales are on longer waiting lists.

Mr George, who chairs the Welsh Parliament’s health and social care committee, feared that the waiting lists situation may change in the future under proposals that he has seen in Powys.

But Mr Whitehouse said that this would create an “administrative burden”.

Ms Shillabeer added that waiting lists have increased to more than one year in both countries since the pandemic but that patients in Powys have shorter waits for treatment than the rest of Wales.

MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said that the current situation is letting down Welsh patients, especially in Powys.

“My constituents in Powys are being let down by these systemic problems,” he said.

“Patients in border communities face challenges to accessing healthcare that other regions of Wales don’t and they often feel these are ignored by the Welsh Government, despite the fact between 15-20% of patients in Wales are treated in England.

“Now in addition to the usual difficulties with referrals and separate IT systems we have abysmal proposals from Powys [Teaching] Health Board to deliberately slow down the treatment of Welsh patients in hospitals in Herefordshire and Shropshire to save money.

“It isn’t good enough and both the UK and Welsh governments need to be getting together to solve it. Some of these issues have been highlighted for over 10 years, but they still haven't been addressed.”