Welsh NHS waiting list rises after ten months of falls, with A&E at record low
The NHS Wales waiting list is rising again after ten consecutive months of falls, with A&E performance at a record low and the two worst emergency departments in Wales both in north Wales.
Just over 689,700 patient pathways were waiting to start treatment at the end of May, up around 9,700 on April, according to Welsh Government figures published today.
A pathway is a single referral for treatment rather than a person, and some patients have more than one, with around 542,600 individual patients estimated to be on waiting lists.
At Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, 34.0% of patients were seen, admitted or discharged within four hours in June, the worst figure of any emergency department in Wales.
Wrexham Maelor Hospital was second worst at 35.4%.
Both hospitals are run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which serves Flintshire and the rest of north Wales and remains in special measures, the highest level of Welsh Government intervention.
Across Wales, 63.0% of patients spent under four hours in emergency departments in June, the lowest figure on record against a target of 95%.
Some 11,826 patients waited 12 hours or more, the second highest figure ever recorded and up 774 on May, against a target of zero.
The average time spent in emergency departments was three hours and one minute.
On planned care, just under 97,600 pathways had been waiting more than a year at the end of May, and just over 4,200 had been waiting more than two years.
The two-year figure rose by 514, or 13.9%, in a month, though it remains 94% below its March 2022 peak.
Betsi Cadwaladr had the highest proportion of one-year waits in Wales, at 18.5% of its pathways, and the highest proportion of two-year waits at 1.4%, with every other health board below 1% or recording none at all.
The health board also had the lowest cancer performance in Wales, with 53.9% of patients starting treatment within 62 days of cancer first being suspected, and the highest proportion of patients waiting over 12 hours in its emergency departments.
Across Wales, cancer performance improved in May to 57.1%, still well below the 75% target.
Directly comparing waiting lists with England is not straightforward because Wales counts some types of waits England does not, but on a like-for-like basis Wales had around 19 pathways waiting per 100 people, compared with 12 per 100 in England.
Provisional figures for June suggest the overall waiting list rose again to around 698,400, though the number waiting over two years fell to around 4,100.
The ambulance service met its response target for purple calls, cardiac and respiratory arrests, with a median response of seven minutes 42 seconds, meaning half of responses were quicker.
It missed the target for red calls, the next most urgent category covering major trauma and patients whose heart or breathing could stop, where the median rose to nine minutes 32 seconds.
The waiting list for therapy services reached a record 63,500 pathways, and the number waiting beyond the eight-week target for diagnostic tests rose by around a quarter in a month.
Natasha Asghar MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Minister for Health and Social Care, said: “These figures show that the crisis in the Welsh NHS is continuing to deepen.
“A&E performance has fallen to its lowest level on record, while the number of people enduring waits of 12 hours or more has reached the second highest figure ever recorded.
“Plaid Cymru cannot escape responsibility for this. They propped up the previous Welsh Labour Government by supporting its budgets and are now running the health service. Patients need urgent action, not more empty promises.
“The Welsh Conservatives have been clear all along that the Welsh Government must declare a health emergency. Wales clearly needs more hospital beds, a robust NHS workforce strategy, a serious plan to cut waiting lists and immediate action to relieve pressure on emergency departments.”
Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, Cabinet Minister for Health and Care, said: “My immediate priority is clear: cut the waiting list backlog inherited from the previous Government, help those who have been waiting longest, and build an NHS here in Wales that can stand strong for generations to come.
“Today’s statistics are disappointing and unacceptable. Too many people are waiting for treatment, and they are waiting too long. We have a plan to tackle this which will deliver the real change the people of Wales need to see and that they rightly deserve.
“June saw the highest number of emergency department attendances recorded for that month. Prolonged hot weather led to more people turning up with heat-related issues, adding further pressure on health and care services.”
The minister added that the purple call response target had been met consistently for the past 12 months, and thanked NHS and social care staff for their work “often under enormous pressure”.
The next monthly figures are due on 20 August.
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