Labour to allow Welsh patients to receive NHS care in England

Welsh NHS patients will be allowed to travel to England to receive care for the first time ever under plans to be announced by the Welsh secretary today.

- Kiran Stacey

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 the move will help reduce waiting lists on both sides of the border. But with the NHS struggling in Wales even more than in England, experts say any movement is more likely to be out of Wales, potentially placing further pressure on stretched English NHS trusts.

At the conference yesterday, Stevens said: "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."

She will add in her speech: "This is the beginning of a new way of working together that will help improve outcomes in both nations and deliver our missions.

"And it has only been possible because a changed Wales Office under Labour has a strong voice across government.