Two-year waits for NHS treatment among Powys patients at one English hospital have risen by 370% since 2022, according to figures released by Powys Teaching Health Board. The data, obtained through a freedom of information request by Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick, shows that at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Shropshire, two-year waits increased from 30 in 2022 to 141 in 2026.
Powys has no district general hospital, leaving thousands of residents reliant on English hospitals for essential treatment. The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling on ministers to intervene, arguing that Powys patients can be forced to wait longer simply because they live on the Welsh side of the border.
Rising waits across three trusts
Across the three English hospital trusts examined, the number of Powys patient pathways exceeding a year has risen by 56%, from 1,090 in 2022 to 1,705 in 2026. The figures relate to NHS treatment waiting lists, with each entry representing a patient awaiting a particular course of treatment, Mr Chadwick said.
One-year waits at Wye Valley NHS Trust in Herefordshire have increased by 75%, from 215 to 376. At RJAH, the number of patients waiting more than a year has risen by 148%, from 463 to 1,150.
A separate snapshot from June 2026 found 1,575 Powys patient pathways had been waiting more than a year across the three trusts, including 145 waiting more than two years.
Policy under scrutiny
The findings come amid controversy over a policy introduced by Powys Teaching Health Board in July 2025, which means Powys patients referred to English hospitals can be made to wait longer than English patients at the same hospitals, even when English hospitals have the capacity to treat them sooner.
Earlier this month, the Welsh Government provided Powys Teaching Health Board with an additional £3.4m to help shorten cross-border waiting times. However, Mr Chadwick's office said this "falls well short of the more than £10m in savings the health board has previously said the policy would deliver."
"Despite the extra funding the board has given no indication that it intends to scrap the arrangements," the office added.
Calls for intervention
Mr Chadwick, who is MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, said: "These figures are shocking and show just how badly patients in Powys are being let down. To see two-year waits at one hospital rise by 370% in just four years is completely unacceptable."
"Behind these figures are people living in pain, struggling to work or unable to enjoy their retirement while waiting for treatment that could transform their lives."
"What makes this particularly frustrating is that Powys patients can be forced to wait longer simply because they live on the Welsh side of the border. Someone living just a few miles away in England could be treated sooner at exactly the same hospital, despite both previously being treated equally."
Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd member for Brycheiniog Tawe Newdd, Jane Dodds, said: "The Welsh Government cannot continue to stand by while patients in Powys pay the price for the health board's financial problems."
"Delaying treatment is a false economy. Leaving people waiting risks making their conditions worse and ultimately costing the NHS more in the long run."
A spokesman for Powys Teaching Health Board said: "Wherever you live in Powys, we aim to ensure that you receive planned care within 104 weeks from referral to treatment."
"This should be the case whether you receive your care in England or Wales. This reflects the goals set by Welsh Government in the NHS Wales performance framework, the way we are funded, and the cross-border statement of principles and values between England and Wales which expects that Welsh residents will be treated in English hospitals based on Welsh waiting time targets."
"These targets are being met for nearly all patients. However, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has experienced a number of challenges in consistently meeting the 104-week waiting time target."
"We are therefore working closely with them to secure sustained improvement, supported by additional funding from Welsh Government of £3.377m. This funding will help to ensure that by March 2027 there are no Powys residents waiting longer than 104 weeks in England providers."
Responding to the figures, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: "Reducing inherited waiting times is a top priority for us."
"Through targeted investment, increased NHS capacity, a focus on productivity and strengthened accountability arrangements, we are supporting health boards to reduce the longest waits and deliver faster access to safe, high-quality care for patients across Wales."
"We are supporting health boards through a clinically led recovery approach, targeted investment and strengthened performance oversight to reduce waiting times, and we have invested £145m to address waiting lists and maintenance backlogs."
"This includes a particular focus on eliminating the longest waits, expanding diagnostic and treatment capacity, and delivering sustainable improvements that improve access and outcomes for patients."
Detailed data on waits
Asked under freedom of information laws how many open referral-to-treatment pathways for Powys-registered patients currently have a waiting time of more than 104 weeks at NHS providers in Shropshire and Herefordshire, the health board said the latest available data shows that seven pathways at Wye Valley NHS Trust (Herefordshire) had been waiting for more than 104 weeks.
There were no pathways exceeding 104 weeks at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (Shropshire), but 138 pathways in Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) had been waiting for more than two years.
The data also shows, for each of the last five years, how many referral-to-treatment pathways for Powys-registered patients have waited more than two years at NHS providers in Shropshire and Herefordshire. At RJAH, the figures were 30 in 2022, 16 in 2023, 46 in 2024, 132 in 2025, and 141 to date in 2026.
At Wye Valley NHS Trust, seven patients were listed as waiting more than two years to date this year, compared with less than five for each of the two previous years, none in 2023, and 21 in 2022. For Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, no patients had waited more than two years in the last five years apart from fewer than five listed in 2025.
Waits of a year have also leapt for patient pathways from Wales at RJAH, rising from 463 in 2022 to 1,150 to date this year. At Wye Valley NHS Trust, those one-year waits had risen from 215 in 2022 to 376 this year to date, but had fallen at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust from 412 in 2022 to 179 in 2026 to date.
For each of the last five years, the number of referral-to-treatment pathways for Powys-registered patients that went over a waiting time of 36 weeks at NHS providers in Shropshire and Herefordshire is as follows: Wye Valley NHS Trust had 730 in 2022, 837 in 2023, 670 in 2024, 751 in 2025, and 816 to date in 2026. Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust had 954 in 2022, 842 in 2023, 1,525 in 2024, 1,601 in 2025, and 669 to date in 2026. RJAH had 899 in 2022, 959 in 2023, 1,240 in 2024, 1,681 in 2025, and 1,803 to date in 2026.
