North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has challenged the Welsh Government over its funding arrangement with the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which he said is directly impacting on Welsh patients treated at the hospital.
In December, the Health Board reported that delayed transfers of care (DTOCs) for patients from Wales have gone up by 26 per cent compared to last year, whereas DTOCs involving patients from west Cheshire have fallen by 24 per cent compared to last year.
DTOCs can be caused by issues either in the health system or in the social care system, and lead to beds needed by patients in hospital being unavailable – which can be a contributor to lengthy A&E delays.
Simon Holden, Chief Finance Officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was quoted at the time as saying; “There is extra capacity that the west Cheshire system is putting in, and we have got to see some extra capacity being put in by Wales.”
Mr Isherwood this week raised the matter with the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd.
He said:
“Last month the Countess of Chester Hospital, a fifth of whose patients come from Wales, reported concern that there had been a 26 per cent increase in delayed transfers of care for its Welsh patients over the previous year. At the same time, there had been a 24 per cent reduction for patients coming from the English side of the border, the west Cheshire patient catchment area that they service.
“Officers raised concerns about funding from the Welsh Government. Welsh Government denied claims they were not paying their fair share. The Health Minister (Vaughan Gething AM) criticised the Trust Board Chairman in the media - and the Welsh Government said Health Boards and Local Authorities were aware of the need to reduce delayed transfers of care, and that the rate of improvement had been ‘increasingly evident’ in recent years. Well, clearly, these figures show that wasn't the case. So, clearly, there's a disagreement between the two sides, ongoing for many years, which is now having serious implications for the experience of patients, over the funding arrangement. What is going on, Minister? Can you confirm that now or can you drill down and establish what's really going on and report back to this Assembly?”
The Minister, Rebecca Evans AM, said: “I know, certainly on an all-Wales level, we're seeing some of the lowest levels of delayed transfers of care that we've had since records began, but I appreciate the circumstance you describe is unique in the sense that we're talking about cross-border provision. I'm not aware of the issue but I will certainly have discussions with the Health Minister to explore the matter further.”
