Split blamed for delayed treatment

Apr 30 2008 Western Mail

WELSH patients may be suffering unnecessary delays in getting specialist treatment as a result of devolution, the head of an English NHS trust suggested yesterday.

Wendy Farrington Chad, chief executive of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt orthopaedic hospital in Gobowen, near Oswestry, said the system of “prior approving” funding for Welsh patients travelling over the border could cause confusion.

She told MPs on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee: “We have experienced through devolution an increase in questioning of patient referrals to our hospital.

“This can put some delay and confusion into the process of treating patients.

“It has generally resulted in the hospital increasingly needing to justify its treatment of patients from Wales.”

The hospital specialises in spinal surgery and complex children’s orthopedic surgery. Around 30% of its patients are referred from Wales, providing about £21m of the hospital trust’s revenue.

But Ms Farrington Chad said that, unlike other border NHS Trusts, hers was not left out of pocket by the need to treat Welsh patients.