NHS waiting lists in Wales “back to their highest levels on record”
The number of patients waiting to start treatment in Wales has reached its highest level on record.
New figures released on Thursday show that in July the number of patient pathways increased from 754,300 to just under 757,400.
This is the fifth consecutive monthly increase and the highest figure on record.
Patient pathways are not the same as the number of patients on a waiting list – with some receiving more than one treatment.
However a breakdown of figures shows that between June and July the number of patients on a waiting list increased to 593,000.
This is also the highest figure on record in Wales.
The proportion of patient pathways waiting less than 26 weeks rose to 59.7 per cent in July, whilst the number of pathways waiting longer than 36 weeks increased in July, to just over 231,200, remaining high in historical context.
Picture: Welsh Government
About 27,700 pathways were waiting more than two years, 60.7 per cent lower than the peak and falling for over a year after a consistent increase throughout 2021.
Commenting on today’s figures a Welsh Government spokesperson said it was “disappointing” to see waiting lists increase.
The spokesperson said: “Our hard-working NHS staff continue to operate amid high and increasing levels of demand.
“At least two million contacts are made with the NHS each month, in a country with a population of over 3.1 million residents – including 500,000 consultations.
“On top of this 399,000 hits were recorded on the NHS Wales 111 website and 71,000 calls made to the phone 111 service.
“It’s encouraging to see the longest waits are continuing to fall, now more than 60 per cent lower than the peak.
“The majority of pathways (59.7 per cent) are waiting less than 26 weeks, and the median is still around 19 weeks.
“The number of people waiting longer than eight weeks for diagnostic services has also decreased.
“It’s disappointing to see overall waiting lists back to their highest levels on record and that is due to the number of people joining the waiting lists.
“Over the last 12 months waiting lists in Wales have only increased by 1.9 per cent compared to 10.7 per cent in England.
“Health boards are working hard to tackle the longest waits and the most urgent cases are always seen first.
Today’s figures also reveal a drop in the number of immediately life-threatening calls made to the Welsh Ambulance Service receiving a response within eight minutes.
Picture: Welsh Government
Just 50.4 per cent of red calls received an emergency response within eight minutes.
This was 2.2 percentage points lower than in July, and the lowest since September 2022.
In August there was an average of 2,993 daily attendances to emergency departments, a decrease compared to the previous month
At the Wrexham Maelor Hospital the number of patients seen within the four hour target was 61.2 per cent.
This was down slightly on the 63.7 per cent in July.
However the Wrexham Maelor Hospital’s performance remains higher than the major emergency departments at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd.
Picture: Welsh Government
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Demand for emergency care services remains high, and performance is stable and generally better than the same period in 2022.
“The average response time for the most urgent ambulance call (red) was seven minutes and 57 seconds which is under the 8 minute target but this is below the percentage set by the Welsh Government.
“Almost 70 per cent of patients waited for less than four hours to be dealt with in Emergency Departments.
“We and health and social care partners are working hard to target improvements, particularly in respect of patient flow, ahead of the winter period.”
Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Russell George MS has slammed today’s figures and questioned whether the Welsh Government’s priorities are in the right place.
Russell George MS said: “Progress is not a word I would use to describe the incredibly lacklustre reduction in two-year waits in our Labour-run Welsh NHS which still stand at over 27,000 – 100 times more than Conservative-run England’s 277.
“It is ironic given Labour’s obsession with spending millions on slowing Wales down with blanket 20mph limits that the net result has been incredibly slow progress on eliminating two-year waits.
“In Labour-run Wales, you still have a 50/50 chance of getting an emergency ambulance response within the target time and at 50.4 per cent, this is the lowest since September 2022 – this is abysmal.
“Despite the Labour Government in Wales receiving £1.20 for every £1 spent on health in England, they have decided to make the political decision to cut the health budget again this year, for a third time – the only government in Britain to have ever done so.”
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS stated: “It is deeply concerning to see that only half of all life-threatening emergency ambulance calls were reached within the 8 minute target in August, the poorest performance since September last year.
“If we are to reduce pressures on our ambulance services and A&Es, we must invest more in community healthcare and social care. If people could get a GP appointment in reasonable time or be safely discharged from hospital, there would be far less pressure on emergency services.
“Across the board the figures are going in the wrong direction. More people waiting to start treatment, more people waiting longer to start treatment, more people waiting longer to start cancer treatment.
“This situation cannot continue. Labour Ministers must end their hands-off approach to our NHS and support our outstanding NHS staff and use their insight and expertise to put our NHS on a more stable footing.”
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