January marks the beginning of a new year, typically a time of optimism and new resolutions. I wish you the best with yours! Let 2026 be the year Wales gets the fresh start we need so desperately.

As I write this column, hundreds if not thousands of residents across Brecon and Radnorshire face long waits for essential NHS treatment. Many are waiting years in agonising pain for procedures such as hip and knee replacements. These are treatments that relieve pain and allow people to live independently. Prolonged delays perpetuate misery and ongoing discomfort.

For decades, patients from Powys have travelled across the border to England for treatment. Today, people in Brecon and Radnorshire are being forced to wait longer, made to wait because Welsh health boards do not have the funds to pay for the operations people need. The Welsh NHS is in dire straits. Most health boards in Wales has a significant budget deficit. 10,254 patients have had waits of two years or more for planned treatments in Wales, compared to just 158 in England.

No one should be left in pain simply because of where they live. Access to healthcare should be based on need, not geography. That is why in November I led a parliamentary debate, to make the world aware of the impact these policies were having on people’s lives. I pressed ministers in both the UK and Welsh Governments to scrap the policy immediately.

As we move further into the new year, my resolution is to keep campaigning for a fairer system that allows patients to receive treatment when it is available, rather than forcing them to wait.

Residents across Brecon, Radnor and Cwm-Tawe deserve a fully-funded healthcare system run in their interests, not one that keeps them waiting.

If I can be of assistance, please contact me at [email protected] or on 01792 316380.