A LLANDOGO woman who needed to seek private care in England for a serious illness has met with secretary of state for health, Jeremy Hunt. After months of waiting for a first appointment to see a gastroenterologist in Wales, Mariana Robinson, 60, had to resort to private consultations in England to get a part diagnosis. Mariana has suffered for over a year with an auto-immune problem and pancreatic insufficiency and still needs a biopsy to find out what is causing severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and bile acid malabsorption. Whilst waiting, the Aneurin Bevan Health Board (ABHB) has refused an out of area referral to continue with the same consultant in England, and have refused her case on appeal. In the meantime, Mariana's condition gets worse, is still undiagnosed and if she loses any more of her pancreas, it may lead to Type 1 diabetes. Having failed to get a satisfactory response from both the Health Board in Wales, the commissioning managers, the Welsh health minister, Mark Drakeford, Mariana went to her MP and the press for help. BBC Wales have been filming her case for their "Week in-Week out" programme and Mariana has been supported by David Davies MP, Action4ourcare and other organisations looking for an end to cross-border funding. On Monday 28th April, Mariana secured a half hour meeting with the Secretary of State for health, Mr Jeremy Hunt MP, at his cabinet offices in the Palace of Westminster. Mariana said: "Jeremy Hunt seemed to be unaware that English patients with Welsh registered GPs were also being affected – roughly 30,000 of them along the England/Wales borders, who didn't have a choice over where they could be seen for consultant care and suffered long waiting times. "As I live just 250 yards across the river Wye and have a Welsh postcode, I can only get my treatment in Wales and the Secretary of State tells me he has absolutely no jurisdiction over the devolved government in Wales. "He is the fund-holder for the whole of the United Kingdom budget for healthcare abroad in any other European country. "I could in effect get my treatment in France, Germany, Spain, Romania or anywhere in the EU, and central government would pay the bill. "The irony is that I want to be treated just over the river in England and this option is denied me by Wales. "I felt that Jeremy Hunt was supportive of David Davies' proposal to adopt a change in the law through the Wales Bill, especially after he had heard of several very serious cases of people within my acquaintance who had been failed by the Welsh NHS system and that this system was also failing English patients along the border. "I was very disappointed that I am no further forward with my own care requirements unless I fancy a trip to France every few months and could afford to pay for the travelling and time off work, which I can't. "This option may be a route to be considered by people needing a one-off operation, such as a hip or knee joint replacement. "I shall persevere with this one and intend to support David Davies's proposed amendment by voting through Change.org and I hope others will do the same." Mariana is awaiting a personal appeal to the chief executive of the ABHB in the light of further medical evidence where Mariana has asked him for "individual funding" to continue to be seen by her consultant in Bristol.