A PARTNERSHIP  between the UK and Welsh Governments has been announced in a bid to drive down NHS waiting lists. 

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens will announce a ground-breaking new 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, but no one has a monopoly on good ideas. The two governments will learn what works best for patients on both sides of the border.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens and Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan will set out how new ways of working together will help deliver the Labour Government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future.

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 in the last two years. 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 new Westminster Labour government rolls out new, more productive ways of working across the NHS in England to deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week.

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

Now, the new 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.

Together, this partnership will focus on delivering Labour's five missions, the UK party's general election manifesto commitments for Wales and the new 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.

Jo Stevens, Welsh Secretary, 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 new partnership between UK and Welsh Labour governments that will help deliver better care for patients and drive down waiting lists.

Eluned Morgan, First Minister of Wales, 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.”

Plaid Cymru have criticised the partnership for being "cosmetic collaboration". 

Plaid Cymru spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said:

“While the UK and Welsh Labour governments tout this new partnership as a step forward for the NHS, it lacks clarity on how this will work in practice and doesn’t appear to offer the radical action required to address the underlying crisis faced by the Welsh NHS.

"We must also ensure that any future co-operation does not dilute Welsh health governance."