Rise in people waiting for NHS treatment for fourth month in a row

The number of people waiting for treatment by the NHS in Wales has risen for the fourth consecutive month, according to new statistics.

The figures show there were just under 709,700 cases waiting for planned treatments in July.

Of these, just over 4,700 had been waiting two years or more - a 15% rise over the course of a month and 82% higher than the position at the end March.

The Welsh government's Plaid Cymru health minister described the figures as disappointing with performance "not where we want it to be".

Reform, Labour and the Tories accused Plaid of being more focused on independence than the NHS.

Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor said: "The inherited waiting list backlog remains too high, and tackling it remains our top priority."

He said the government was putting measures in place that would ensure nobody was waiting more than two years for treatment.

Earlier this month he outlined how £145m of extra funding to shrink waiting lists and speed up treatments would be spent.

Because of a lag of around seven weeks between collecting and reporting NHS Wales waiting time data, it is likely to be several months before the impact of the Welsh government's new plan to bring down lists can be assessed.

The plan included proposals to scrap automatic follow-up appointments, after planned NHS treatments, unless patients specifically needed or requested them.

It is hoped this will free up "tens of thousands" of hospital appointments in Wales for those waiting to be seen by a specialist for the first time.

Ap Gwynfor restated his commitment that waits of two years or longer would be eliminated in Wales "within months" when the plans were unveiled.

However, he refused to set out a more detailed timescale as to when this reduction would be achieved.

A two-month gap between collecting and publishing data on waiting times means final figures are only currently available for July, while there is a shorter gap for urgent care figures.

The data for A&E departments in Wales showed they continued to be under significant pressure in August despite a decrease in attendances compared to the record-breaking figures for July.

In August there were just under 97,700 attendances to all emergency departments, an average of 3,151 attendances per day - this was 204 fewer attendances per day on average than in the previous month.

In terms of A&E waits, in August, 63.8% of patients spent less than four hours in emergency departments from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge.

This was an improvement compared to the previous month - but still well below the 95% target which has never been met.

In August, 10,977 patients waited 12 hours or more, 6.3% lower than in the previous month, but targets state nobody should be waiting in an A&E this long.

But the Welsh government insisted there had been a distinct improvement in how quickly ambulance crews were able to hand patients over to A&E departments - with the rise in the proportion of patients handed over within a 15 minute and 45 minute targets

Ap Gwynfor welcomed this progress, but warned the NHS needed to sustain progress.

Reform Wales' interim leader, Helen Jenner, said: "These figures show Plaid are struggling to get a grip on the continuing crisis in our NHS. Instead of holding separatist meetings looking to break up the United Kingdom, Plaid should be getting on with the day job."

Welsh Conservative health spokesperson Natasha Asghar also criticised Plaid for being "focused only on their obsession with constitutional change and independence".

"Patients across Wales will expect the Welsh government's focus to be on getting waiting lists down," she said.

Welsh Labour leader, Ken Skates also called for Plaid to "get their priorities straight".

Darren Hughes of the Welsh NHS Confederation, which represents health service organisations, said: "While performance remains stronger in many areas than at the same point last year, July's figures for planned care show the relentless pressure and record demand across much of urgent and emergency care, increasing the risk of planned treatment being postponed.

"However, continued improvement on ambulance handover times, now at their lowest since May 2021, reflects the sustained efforts of NHS leaders and staff to improve patient's experience and the ambulance service's ability to reach those most in need of emergency care.

"The cabinet minister has outlined how he expects health boards to reduce waiting lists, and NHS leaders are moving quickly to plan how they will deliver against these areas.

"But waiting lists cannot be tackled in isolation from the wider pressures across health and social care. This summer showed again that the system remains under sustained and growing strain, with no quick fix."