Powys Teaching Health Board’s has dropped cost-cutting plans that would have seen a delay in treatment for Powys patients in English hospitals.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Powys Teaching Health Board was considering measures to address financial pressures.

Among the proposals was a plan to ask health providers in England to slow down the delivery of planned care treatment, including outpatient appointments and inpatient procedures for Powys patients.

But at a meeting of Powys Teaching Health Board on 29 January, Board Members agreed to accept a recommendation to drop the proposals.

The move was welcomed by Montgomeryshire MS, Russell George, who said that further questions about longer-term financial support for the local Health Board now need to be addressed.

The Montgomeryshire MS had described the plans as completely scandalous and had strongly criticised the proposals.

Mr George said: “I welcome Powys Teaching Health Board’s decision to drop plans that would have seen a delay in treatment for Powys patients in English hospitals.

‘’These measures should never have been suggested in the first place.

“It would have been ludicrous if patients from Wales were forced to wait longer for treatment due to financial constraints, especially when there is sufficient capacity to treat those patients within NHS hospitals just over the border.

‘’We in Powys rely on hospitals across the border in England, and the proposal would have created an unjust disparity, where Welsh patients wait longer than their English counterparts.

‘’I had discussions with the First Minister, Health Minister, and Powys Teaching Health Board to encourage all parties to agree on a way forward that would prevent these plans from being implemented.

‘’My focus now is to bring about change, ensuring our local Health Board is adequately funded so that this threat does not arise again in the future.”