The Welsh Conservatives are calling on the Labour Welsh Government to scrap the references, within Welsh NHS guidance, to the exhaustion of local treatment options for patients before they are able to access treatment options available elsewhere to unlock the ability to work both cross-border and cross-community to cut NHS waits.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, Sam Rowlands MS said:“Labour’s Health Minister, Jeremy Miles’ ideological refusal to commit to comprehensive cross-border collaboration to reduce NHS waits will damage the prospects of patients across Wales.

“The current guidance for both cross-border and cross-community working is incredibly restrictive and is, in my view, a contributing factor to Wales having the longest NHS waits in the whole UK.

“Labour ministers need to swallow their pride, accept the support on offer that they failed to grasp when brought forward by the Conservatives and scrap the guidance that effectively imprisons patients within their local area, regardless of the length of wait.”