Last week figures showed that National Health Service waiting lists in Wales hit a record high, with just under 600,000 people waiting for NHS treatment.
And at the Labour party conference in Liverpool last week too, both Westminster and Cardiff took the wrapping off a plan to try and alleviate some of the pressure. Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens described the partnership between NHS trusts in England and Wales as “the beginning of a new way of working together that will help improve outcomes in both nations and deliver our missions.
“And it has only been possible because a changed Wales Office under Labour has a strong voice across government.”
First Minister Eluned Morgan was equally enthusiastic. “We don’t have a monopoly on good ideas and there’s lots we can learn from our closest neighbours and we have lots we can share with our colleagues in NHS England, where we have already made changes to our NHS,” she said.
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Nice words. But this publication is not easily impressed. Instead, we will wait to see what exact impact this agreement will have. Will it be a shell game with waiting lists? Or will in genuinely have a positive impact on the 593,000 who are waiting to be seen by doctors.
Don’t get us wrong. On the face of it, this seems like a great idea...
But the NHS in England is broken too. Indeed, the first weeks of the Labour Government’s focus was on determining exactly how the system is so broke and broken. No one in Cardiff or Coventry, Swansea of Sheffield, Tenby or Tottenham, Machynlleth or Manchester is getting a new hip anytime soon, none a consultant appointment, none a fast track for a heart ailment.
The new plan does allow for more cross-border collaboration. In Wales, NHS staff are inundated with paper. Streamlining processes and using technology for better record keeping is certainly welcomes, so too sharing best practices have had had to evolve in Wales because of the paucity of caring options.
Ultimately, though, the real solution is a massive funding infusion. And making the NHS more attractive for medical and nursing staff.