The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Government to commit £10 million to restore cross-border healthcare for Powys residents, warning that patients are being left in limbo by conflicting information about treatment in English hospitals.

Mid and West Wales MS and party leader Jane Dodds spoke in the Senedd on Tuesday, citing a letter from the Wye Valley NHS Trust, which covers Hereford County Hospital. The letter described current cross-border arrangements as “operationally and clinically challenging to deliver” and warned that the policy is expected to create “additional operating challenges and pressures from the early quarter 1 of 2026-27.” It also noted that the gap between English and Welsh waiting times is likely to widen as NHS England works to meet its target of treating 92 per cent of patients within 18 weeks.

Ms Dodds criticised the confusion facing Powys patients, who she said face being told different information by surgeons, Powys Teaching Health Board, and the Welsh Government.

Speaking in the Senedd, she told the First Minister: “We’re hearing real mixed messages in Powys - completely contradictory information is coming about treatments in English hospitals.

“People in Powys, as Russell George has highlighted, are being treated unfairly. We don't have our own general hospital, so we have to commission our treatment from other hospitals, and many of those are in England.

“So, will you ensure that Powys receives fair settlement from the £120 million allocated last year, and help residents who are currently living in pain and agony to get the treatment that they deserve?”

The First Minister, Eluned Morgan, responded that board-approved changes to align planned care services with NHS Wales recovery targets had come into effect at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital and the Wye Valley Trust from 1 July 2025. She added that Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust had not yet enacted the new commissioning intentions.

Moments earlier, Independent Montgomeryshire MS Russell George had raised concerns that Powys Teaching Health Board received just £115,000 from last year’s £120 million extra funding for NHS waiting lists - less than 0.1 per cent of the total - and questioned why funding was not distributed on a per-population basis.

In response, the First Minister said Powys’ funding is based on activity rather than population. She noted that, while the county does not have a district general hospital, it has received additional funding on top of its baseline allocation. Ms Morgan said management information showed around 170 residents were waiting more than 104 weeks for treatment, most of whom were being treated in English hospitals, and added there was no suggestion that delays were due to a lack of funds.

Speaking after the session, Ms Dodds said: “Every person in Powys has the same right to timely, equitable healthcare as anyone else in Wales. Powys’ geography, its rurality, and its lack of a district general hospital do not erase those rights.

“We know from Powys Teaching Health Board that £10 million would be needed to reinstate the previous cross‑border arrangements. That is why I asked the Welsh Government to provide funding so that the people of Powys can finally receive the same standard of care as everyone else.”