Plenary 24/03/15
FIRST MINISTER’S QUESTIONS
Cross-border health services

Janet Finch-Saunders
I’d actually like to endorse a clear and concise protocol coming forward. I know that several of my constituents, when needing treatment—and it’s very specialist treatment that is not available in north Wales—they become embroiled in a trap, really, because, although they require the treatment, the funding doesn’t always follow them, and then there becomes this delay. Would you endorse some kind of protocol that will ensure that constituents can actually access this specialist treatment, without delay, and that there’s a process in place, also, to ensure a smooth transition of service back—when constituents have had their treatment and they need follow-on support back in north Wales?

Carwyn Jones / The First Minister
Well, I’m not aware of that being an issue any more than it’s an issue when we take patients from England into Wales—the burns unit at Morriston being an example of that, where that acts as a tertiary unit for the south-west of England as well. There should be no difficulty with patients accessing services in England, nor with people in England accessing services in Wales; it’s a well-established principle, and where those patients access treatment, the money follows from either side of the border.