MP Helen Morgan has urged the Government to tackle the “broken and disjointed” healthcare system affecting thousands of patients living along the English-Welsh border.
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, has highlighted how current arrangements force hospitals to prioritise waiting lists based on which side of the border patients live, rather than clinical need.
The MP told Parliament that gaps in data sharing and funding disputes were “putting lives at risk”.
Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday (4th November), Helen added: “After 25 years of devolution, NHS England and NHS Wales still cannot share patient records properly. Referrals, test results and discharge letters are still moving by post or fax – an absurd situation in 2025.”
The MP, who is also the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for health and social care, highlighted cases where patients registered with Welsh GPs but treated in English hospitals faced delays and distress due to bureaucratic wrangling.
One constituent, she said, was told days before surgery that the Welsh health board would not fund reconstructive treatment, leaving her “distressed and very scared about her future”.
“That is not fairness, it is failure,” Helen said. “Patients living with chronic pain are being told to wait longer than necessary because they live in Wales.”
Helen’s speech was part of a debate on cross-border healthcare secured by her Welsh Liberal Democrat colleague David Chadwick MP. Helen highlighted the need for urgent reforms, including extending England’s secure NHS email system to Welsh GP practices, expanding English clinicians’ access to the Welsh clinical portal and making the NHS app work across nations.
The MP also highlighted challenges faced by patients in St Martins, who now have to travel over the border to Chirk for treatment since the village’s surgery shut down in 2022, despite strong opposition from local residents and their MP.
Helen said: “The Betsi Cadwaladr university health board has no official responsibility for my constituents over the border in North Shropshire, but it does get funding from the Welsh NHS for each individual registered in Chirk.
“The best interests of English patients were disregarded by Betsi Cadwaladr health board because it was not responsible for those patients’ outcomes.”
Helen said that devolution “should not mean a dysfunctional border region” and that it should instead help deliver the localised care that residents need.
She added: “The 2018 cross-border statement promised that no patient would face delay or disadvantage because of which side of the border they lived on, but in reality that promise has not been kept.
“The border should never be a barrier to care. Patients deserve a system that prioritises outcomes, not bureaucracy.”
She urged ministers to work with the Welsh Government to ensure seamless data sharing and transparent funding flows.
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