8. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Welsh Government’s priorities to improve health outcomes in Montgomeryshire? OAQ(5)0168(HWS)

We continue to work with the health board and other partners in Wales to take a range of actions to improve access to healthcare services that are safe and sustainable and as close to people’s homes as possible and of the highest quality.

I’m very pleased to hear that answer, Cabinet Secretary. You’ll be aware of the work that’s going on in Shropshire in regard to where emergency services should be located, either in Shrewsbury or Telford. The overwhelming view of my own constituents is that those services should be located in Shrewsbury. That’s where emergency services should be located—I’ve not met any constituent that says otherwise.

The Welsh Government had previously been silent on its preference, but I was very pleased when the First Minister confirmed a few weeks back to me in the Chamber that his preference would be that emergency services should be located in Shrewsbury. Can I ask, have you made representations to the trust yourself and have you been directly involved in the consultation? I’m very keen that you respond yourself, as the Cabinet Secretary, rather than just through the Powys health board.

Thank you for the question and the invitation to get involved directly in the process. I don’t think it is appropriate for me to get directly involved in writing to or trying to take part in the process that is ongoing. There’s a very difficult process ongoing with the Future Fit programme. There are essentially diametrically opposed views between two different actors and clinical commissioning groups that are equally balanced in the decision-making process.

That’s bad news for residents in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin, but also for Welsh residents who rely on the services that are provided there. I think there’s a real challenge here for the UK Government, acting as a Government for England, to resolve in how this process is actually resolved and the evidence base that is provided. But Powys health board have been engaged and they are directly making representations on behalf of Welsh residents who use those services.

What the English services need to consider in this is not just from an altruistic point of view—the impact upon Welsh residents using those services—but to understand their services are being commissioned and paid for by Welsh residents. If those services move then that financial flow may disappear as residents are directed elsewhere. To be fair, Powys have been upfront about the fact that they may have to make different decisions if a different choice is made about the location of services between Shrewsbury and Telford.

It is a difficult issue but it is primarily a difficult issue for NHS England to resolve, with the Secretary of State for Health in the UK Government. From our point of view, we will continue to make sure that Powys health board safeguards and represents the interests of Welsh residents, which you represent in this place.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.