NHS waiting lists fall for eighth month in Wales, but north Wales patients face longest waits in the country
NHS waiting lists in Wales have fallen for the eighth consecutive month, but Welsh Government figures published today show the health board covering Flintshire and the rest of north Wales is the worst performer in the country on nearly every measure used to assess NHS performance.
There were just over 713,000 referral to treatment pathways waiting to start treatment across Wales in January, a fall of around 27,900 from December and the lowest figure since April 2022.
A record 144,700 pathways were closed during the month, the highest monthly figure on record.
The Welsh Government said 61% of patients were waiting less than 26 weeks, the highest proportion since June 2020, and that just over 5,200 patients had been waiting more than two years, down 92.6% from the peak in March 2022.
A separate Welsh Government quarterly performance report, also published today, places Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board below every other health board in Wales on the majority of performance indicators.
Betsi Cadwaladr serves Flintshire, Wrexham, Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey.
In A&E, the health board had 49.6% of patients seen, admitted or discharged within four hours in February.
The target is 95%.
The Wales average was 63.7%.
The best-performing health boards, Aneurin Bevan and Hywel Dda, both reached 73.5%.
Betsi Cadwaladr’s four-hour performance has fallen over the past year, according to the Welsh Government’s figures.
19.9% of patients at the health board waited 12 hours or more in emergency departments in February, the highest proportion of any health board in Wales.
Across Wales, 9,817 patients waited 12 hours or more in emergency departments that month.
On planned care, 20.8% of Betsi Cadwaladr’s referral to treatment pathways had been waiting longer than a year in January, the highest of any health board in Wales.
2.0% of pathways had been waiting longer than two years, also the highest in Wales and more than double the next highest figure.
Swansea Bay and Powys had no two-year waits at all, and every other health board was below 1%.
For diagnostics, 52.9% of Betsi Cadwaladr’s pathways were waiting longer than the eight-week target in January, the highest proportion in Wales.
The Welsh Government’s report describes the trend at the health board as increasing over the past two years.
Across Wales, the number of patients waiting longer than the eight-week diagnostic target rose to just over 48,300 in January, the highest since January 2024.
The number waiting longer than the 14-week target for therapies also increased to just under 5,300, the highest since October 2024.
On cancer, 50.8% of suspected cancer pathways at Betsi Cadwaladr started treatment within 62 days in January.
The target is 75%.
The Wales average was 57%, itself well below the target and down from 60.7% in December.
The Welsh Government’s report describes the long-term trend at Betsi Cadwaladr on cancer performance as generally downwards.
Wales as a whole has the equivalent of 20 consultant-led waiting list pathways for every 100 people, compared with 12 per 100 in England.
Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and social care, said: “Over half a million of the Welsh population remain on NHS waiting lists, with 5,000 still waiting over two years despite Labour’s previous promises to remove two year waits altogether.”
He said the cancer figures reflected “Labour’s failing record when it comes to the NHS” and that Wales was now “the only UK nation without a cancer plan.”
Plaid Cymru said it would introduce a cancer strategy prioritising prevention and early diagnosis, and roll out surgical hubs across Wales to reduce waiting times.
Peter Fox MS, chair of the Senedd Health and Social Care Committee and Welsh Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for health, said cancer waiting times were worsening “with fewer patients starting treatment on time and no sign of sustained improvement.”
He said the Welsh Conservatives would declare a health emergency, increase hospital bed numbers and create a cancer treatments fund.
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