Wales's Volunteers Are Carrying Cross-Border Healthcare
Cross-border health transport is a significant and growing area of need for patients, leading to increased demand on the Community Transport sector. Most of this demand is currently being met by volunteers, an almost invisible workforce that is directly enabling health and wellbeing for patients in Wales and England, that is under increasing pressure.
CTA Cymru were invited to give evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee as part of their inquiry into cross-border health arrangements between Wales and England. On 22nd April 2026, Gemma Lelliott and Michelle Clarke travelled to Westminster to give evidence in session, alongside Alyson Thomas (Chief Executive of Llais) and Stacey Keegan (Chief Executive of Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital).
To inform our evidence, we conducted a snap survey with CTA members who we believed may be involved in delivering health transport that crosses the border between Wales and England – more than 57% of our respondents are currently delivering these journeys, and their feedback was added to intelligence already held by the CTA Cymru team.
Our data shows that demand for Community Transport to health appointments is growing. Transport to GP appointments has long been an established element of Community Transport, and we see travel from Wales into England and vice versa happening regularly in border communities.
For appointments at hospitals and/or specialist clinics e.g. cataracts, oncology, orthopaedics, and renal, our evidence points to the majority of cross-border journeys moving from Wales into England, including both border communities and further afield.
Operators in Flintshire, Powys, Pembrokeshire, Ynys Môn, Denbighshire, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Gwynedd, and Ceredigion, have reported health journeys to Liverpool, Cheltenham, Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Hereford, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, and Worcester, showing this is not just an issue important to border communities but extends across the length and breadth of Wales.
In the session and the follow up paper we supplied to the Committee (which you can find below), we discussed the challenges and opportunities around cross-border transport to health, in particular the heavy reliance on a volunteer workforce which is under increasing pressure. It’s essential that governments across the UK recognise the importance of Community Transport in enabling patients to attend their appointments and maintain their health and wellbeing – without the Community Transport movement, many more people would be struggling. In Wales alone, some 700,000 hospital appointments are missed or cancelled each year, costing the NHS £billions. By investing proactively in proven solutions, we can support the NHS is reducing the proportion of those appointments missed because of a lack of accessible transport.
For more information, contact Gemma on gemma@ctauk.org.