The number of people waiting for NHS treatment in Wales is at a record high. In March, the number of people waiting for treatment rose to 599,100. The same number has risen for three consecutive months and by May 2024, 611,500 people were waiting for treatment.
The number of people needing emergency ambulance treatment is also increasing, with the Welsh Government saying the figure has risen by 28% in the same month of 2023. In addition to this, Wales’ cancer targets have never been met. The Welsh Government has set an NHS target that 75% of people should start cancer treatment within 62 days of being first diagnosed with cancer. Performance is fluctuating, with a downward trend over the past few years, and has never met the 75% mark. This target is to increase to 80% in 2026.
Sadly, the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and the increasing pressures on health workers and the impact of industrial activity means that people in Wales are waiting longer for vital care. While we are constantly told about the pressures on the NHS, the latest figures released by Stats Wales are still alarming. Added to this are disparities in key services such as A&E and ambulance waiting times between different hospitals and health boards. For the latest health and Covid news, sign up to our newsletter here
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While it’s often not as easy as looking at statistics at face value, they can certainly paint a picture of the types of waits patients can expect. Population, poverty figures and geographic size can all influence the level of service one hospital or health board can provide to another. However, performance targets have been set for each of these NHS services and we looked at how each major accident department and hospital in Wales compares (the data excludes minor injuries clinics).
Accidents and emergencies
target:
- 95% of patients spend more than four hours in A&E from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge.
- No patient should stay in A&E for more than 12 hours
Patients attending Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen face the longest emergency department stays, spending less than four hours in A&E. Ysbyty Gwynedd reported similar figures.
In June 2024, only the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, the country’s largest hospital, met the 95% target. Here 98.8% of the total patients were seen in less than four hours. In total, there were 89,260 visits to Welsh A&E departments in March.
Hospitals with the highest number of patients staying in A&E for less than 12 hours were Ysbyty Glan Clwyd with 72.9% of people seen in this time frame, followed by Ysbyty Gwynedd with 77.9%. Both belong to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which is currently under special measures.
Of the 66,618 people who attended Wales’ main emergency departments in June 2024, 56,752 were seen within 12 hours, meaning almost 10,000 people waited longer.
In April 2013, a goal was introduced to eliminate 12-hour stays in all urgent care facilities. Even so, the latest statistics show that thousands of people a decade still experience these long waits every month.
Ambulance service
target
- Only the most serious calls classified as ‘red’ (immediately life threatening) are subject to a response time target.
- The Welsh Government wants 65% of red calls to be answered within eight minutes
Not one health board met the 65% target of eight minutes in June 2024, underscoring the dire situation facing the ambulance service in Wales. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board was the best performer with 52.3%.
Most emergency calls are designed to direct ambulances to people in life-threatening situations. Unfortunately, as pressure on the service increases, more and more of these are being missed. One paramedic spoke to Wales Online last year about the pressures ambulance workers face, which you can find here.
Ambulance service paramedics and other staff have participated in several days of industrial action in recent years in a dispute over pay and conditions. Overall in Wales in June 2024, 46.5% of red calls were reached within eight minutes. However, the service recorded better results than May (45.8%).
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Cancer treatment
target
- 75% of people should start treatment within 62 days of cancer diagnosis
No Welsh health board met the target of 75% of patients starting first treatment within 62 days in May 2024. (Note that while Powys is included in the chart, no patients are currently being treated by cancer services within this health board).
The suspected cancer pathway begins at the site of suspicion (for example, when a doctor makes a referral) and ends when the patient begins their first definitive treatment, is downstaged (they are told they do not have cancer), chooses not to be treated, or dies. .
Welsh Government response
Each month the Welsh Government and Statistics Wales release data relating to the performance of the NHS in the previous month. You can read our recent analysis of the latest data here.
This was the Welsh Government’s response to the latest data on 18 July: “Our incredibly hard-working NHS staff continue to provide life-saving and life-changing care in the face of incredible demand for its services. More than 14,250 people were declared cancer free in May – an incredible number. The improvement in performance against the 62-day target is also encouraging.
“The number of immediately life-threatening (red) 999 calls to the ambulance service each day was the second highest on record and the rate of these calls was the highest on record. This level of demand – an increase of 28% compared to the same month in 2023 – means that it is increasingly difficult to meet the target response times, but even so there was an improvement in June, with almost 8 out of 10 calls received a response in 15. minutes.
“Performance against the 12-hour target for emergency departments improved slightly in June, with most people discharged, admitted or transferred in less than two hours and 50 minutes. The number of emergency admissions fell by 5.6% this month – a further indication that working across our six national targets to care for people close to home is having an impact.
“But, overall, this is another disappointing set of NHS performance figures. Waiting lists have grown again, with the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment rising for the second month in a row, after a 24-month straight fall.
“The Health Secretary has made it clear to health boards that she hopes to see progress and sustained progress in reducing long waits and waiting times for treatment. She will explain to health board leadership today that the situation is unacceptable and must be improved.
“There is still a way to go to reduce the backlog built up during the pandemic. But the NHS continues to deliver a massive workload for a population of 3 million – since April 2022, more than 2.5 million patient pathways have been closed at an average of 103,000 per month.
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