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'Disappointing' figures show longest hospital waiting times rise again in Wales
'Disappointing' figures show longest hospital waiting times rise again in Wales
Last month the Welsh Government said it had met an ambitious target, but the number has risen again
Jeremy Miles said the latest health figures for Wales were 'disappointing'
Wales' health minister has admitted it is "disappointing" that the number of longest NHS waits has gone up, a month after the Welsh Government said it was happy to have met a target set by the First Minister.
Last year, Eluned Morgan said that by the spring she wanted the number of waits to be "around" 8,000. The corresponding figures came out in May, and showed the number of people waiting for more than two years from referral to treatment had been narrowly missed.
When the First Minister made her comments the figure was around 24,000. In January it was 21,087 while in February it was 15,505, before it dropped to 8,389 - the lowest level since April, 2021. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here .
This month, however, it has risen again, to 9,625, something health minister Jeremy Miles has said is "disappointing".
The vast majority (6,106) are in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area. Swansea Bay and Powys health boards have no pathways waiting longer than two years, while Hywel Dda and Aneurin Bevan university health boards each have fewer than 300 patient pathways waiting more than two years.
This release of data includes the Easter holiday period.
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The latest data for the longest waits shows:
Betsi Cadwaladar: 6,106
Powys: 0
Hywel Dda: 208
Swansea Bay: 0
Cwm Taf: 1,168
Cardiff and Vale: 1,863
Aneurin Bevan: 280
Mr Miles said: "It is disappointing to see the increase in long waits in April after all the progress health boards have made over the last few months. However, this is an annual trend seen in April in Wales and also the other UK nations".
Asked about his message to people in north Wales, where waits are longer, Mr Miles said there was a higher starting figure in the Betsi health board area, but that there had been "significant" reductions.
Data shows the Betsi Cadwaladar figure in October, 2024, was 10,177, which fell to a low of 5,747 in March, then went back up to 6,106 this month.
"My message to those patients is I absolutely agree that you should not have to be waiting so long for your treatment. There are a particular set of measures in place which the government has put in place to set clear expectations for the health board in north Wales, but also a key range of support for Betsi to be able to make faster progress," the health minister said.
Mr Miles said Easter often caused an increase in the data due to staff being on leave and people's availability for surgery and treatments.
"One of the things we want to see is a continuation and services being delivered differently so there's a more consistent pattern throughout the year right across Wales," he said.
"What I want to see is those two years coming down, month on month. What we've seen in recent years, is over the Easter period is that can be a challenge and we're reporting on these figures today. We've seen this in other parts of the UK as well, it's not a challenge which is unique to Wales.
"What I want to see is that we are heading steadily towards that figure where nobody's waiting more than two years for treatment. I'm confident that we've got plans that will get us there by the end of the Senedd term," he said.
It came as the Welsh Government announced £120m, which it said was "new" money, to reduce the longest waits for planned treatment. The money, Mr Miles said, would:
Reduce the overall size of the waiting list by 200,000
Eliminate all two-year waits
Restore the diagnostic wait times to be reduced to under eight weeks by March, 2026
He said: "This new funding will mean more and faster appointments, tests and treatments over the next 12 months. We're asking people to do all they can to support the NHS by keeping their appointment and making sure they are fit and ready for treatment."
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Urgent and emergency care services continue to see large numbers of people – this was the busiest May on record for the Welsh Ambulance Service, with more red, immediately life-threatening 999 calls.
In emergency departments the average time to admission, transfer or discharge was two hours and 46 minutes across all emergency care facilities.
