The UK and Welsh governments will collaborate on healthcare for the first time to help drive down waiting lists on both sides of the border and improve patient care as part of an approach to working together.

Jo Stevens, Welsh secretary, announced a ground-breaking partnership to facilitate an exchange of best practice to address key challenges facing NHS England and NHS Wales, at this year’s Labour Party Annual Conference.

Healthcare is devolved in Wales, however the two governments will learn what works best for patients on both sides of the border.

According to the Welsh government, this year’s Labour Party Annual Conference has highlighted how the Labour government is fixing the foundations as a rock-solid platform from which to rebuild Britain, after the Tories ducked difficult decisions and ran public services into the ground.

Jo and Eluned Morgan, Welsh first minister, have outlined how ways of working together will help deliver the Labour government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future.

Jo, said, “Healthcare is one of the biggest shared challenges our two governments face and we are acting quickly to tackle it.

“These practical, common-sense steps could deliver real change on the ground for patients and clinicians. Until now, cheap political point scoring by the previous UK Conservative government made it impossible.

“This is only the first step in a bold partnership between UK and Welsh Labour governments that will help deliver better care for patients and drive down waiting lists.”

The UK government will draw inspiration from the work the Welsh Labour government has done to improve access to NHS dentistry, unlocking 400,000 appointments between 2022 to 2024. UK Labour committed to deliver 700,000 new dental appointments in England.

Meanwhile, the Welsh government will benefit from best practice shared by NHS England, as the Westminster labour government rolls out more productive ways of working across the NHS in England to deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week.

There will also be opportunities to explore more cross-border collaboration, including developing mutual aid partnerships, enabling NHS Trusts to support each other as capacity allows.

The previous UK Conservative health secretary suggested he was open to cross-border cooperation but failed to achieve meaningful agreement prior to the general election.

The cooperation between the two Labour administrations will draw on expertise from officials across both governments to drive improvements in the day-to-day lives of people across Wales.

According to the Welsh government, this partnership will focus on delivering Labour's five missions, the UK party's general election manifesto commitments for Wales and the first minister's four priorities for Wales. It will also drive cooperation on legislation and regulation in both parliament and the Senedd to strengthen and protect devolution.

Eluned said, “People are rightly proud of the NHS, which was created here in Wales. They want to see the governments in Wales and the UK working together to ensure they have better access to care, whether that’s to an NHS dentist or to a planned operation.

“We don’t have a monopoly on good ideas and there’s lots we can learn from our closest neighbours and we have lots we can share with our colleagues in NHS England, where we have already made changes to our NHS.

“We are ready to harness the power of two Labour governments, with the same values and the same belief in our great National Health Service, working together to improve services for people on both sides of the border.”

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