SIR,

I, like many others, was alarmed to read of Mariana Robinson's experiences with the Welsh NHS (Beacon 19th March). However, I was not surprised.

It seems the Welsh NHS has an objective to enable doctors and specialists to widen and maintain their medical knowledge by providing them with as broader spectrum of cases as possible.

With this ideology in mind the Welsh NHS seems to have overlooked that doctors and specialists are there to serve their patients, not the other way around.

If waiting lists are now even longer so that patients die before they are seen, is the ideology not misguided or is the intention to provide a broader spectrum for the pathologists?

The Welsh NHS has also overlooked the fact that for years those of us living on the border have been able to choose English hospitals when they have been more conveniently accessible.

While Wales is possessively guarding its frontiers, those cross-border patients now restricted to treatment in Wales are contributing to even longer waiting lists and extra pressure on hospital staff while the nearby English hospitals remain in a position to accommodate us. But the problems do not end here.

What about visitors? At a time of hospitalisation a patient's wellbeing also depends on the support of family and friends who need to be able to reach the hospital in question.

Bypassing several hospitals for a patient to be treated at a specialist one in Wales would in many cases mean an overnight stay for visitors who were relying on public transport, assuming public transport was available.

Towards the end of 2013 I needed a specific eye operation and was told by my GP that when Wales becomes responsible for its own NHS such cases would have to be referred to Swansea.

As my husband and elderly mother are unable to drive how would I be visited? So I opted in the first instance to be seen privately in Hereford which has easy access by public transport.

I also ascertained that I was able to have my operation on the NHS in the County hospital. The waiting list was only 18 weeks maximum as they were not at full capacity at that time.

As a carer I needed to be specific about the month I would be operated on so that I could make alternative arrangements for those in my care.

A date in May was given by Hereford as a deadline by which my operation was to be scheduled. When I received a letter to arrange an exact date I was informed there were now two waiting lists and because I lived in Wales the wait was extended to 26 weeks while 18 weeks still remained the deadline for those living in England.

It appears Wales has to make a dictatorial decision firstly as to whether a patient is forced to be seen in England because of a lack of places for that medical speciality in Wales and secondly whether they are prepared to fund the treatment in England.

Meanwhile, the patient has to wait in subservient fashion.

This bureaucratic situation is so ludicrous when one thinks of the amount of money Wales is spending on the hospital car service where numerous volunteer drivers are paid mileage for considerable distances, sometimes with only one patient in a car.

While the Welsh bureaucrats' thirst for power remains vehemently at the top of their list of priorities, the welfare of patients and their relatives has inevitably plummeted to the bottom.

Surely patients have the right to be seen at the most accessible hospital dealing with the medical speciality required?

As the anxiety of patients and relatives grows and despite numerous complaints, Wales seems blindly determined to continue to defend its ideology and ignore the wishes of its people putting both health and lives at risk. Aneurin Bevan must surely be turning in his grave.

Angela Hoyle

(Monmouth)