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The number of patients facing the longest waits for NHS treatment has risen despite recent Welsh Government action.<\/p>\n
In May, there were just under 10,300 open pathways waiting longer than two years, according to new figures \u2014 a 6.5% rise on the previous month.<\/p>\n
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It marks a reversal of recent progress which saw two-year waits fall in March to just under 8,400, the lowest level since April 2021.<\/p>\n
The Welsh Government had set a target to eliminate two-year waits in most specialities by March 2023 \u2014 a target it has continually missed.<\/p>\n
The fall in waits in the spring followed a Welsh Government investment of \u00a350 million to cut waiting times, which have continued to soar since the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
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Picture: Welsh Government<\/p>\n
As a result, more treatments and tests have been delivered across NHS Wales through evening and weekend appointments, regional working between health boards and renewed efforts to increase access to planned care.<\/p>\n
Despite this, in May there were just over 796,100 patients waiting to start treatment, an increase of around 6,200 since April.<\/p>\n
The number of open pathways is not the same as the number of patients on a waiting list, as some patients will be waiting to start more than one treatment.<\/p>\n
In May there were about 614,300 individual patients on treatment waiting lists.<\/p>\n
There were just over 75,500 pathways waiting longer than one year for their first outpatient appointment.<\/p>\n
Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said it was \u201cdisappointing to see the longest waits for treatment rise\u201d, but that he was confident Wales will see a \u201csignificant reduction\u201d in the August figures.<\/p>\n
Ambulance response times<\/strong><\/p>\n The number of people waiting more than an hour to transfer from an ambulance into an emergency department in Wales fell by almost a fifth in June.<\/p>\n Handover delays have continued to hamper ambulance response times. In June, around 15,300 hours were lost due to handover delays.<\/p>\n In the past year, the number of hours lost to handover delays has quadrupled compared with 2017.<\/p>\n Picture: Welsh Government<\/p>\n In the same month, 50.7% of immediately life-threatening (category red) calls received a response within the eight-minute target.<\/p>\n This was 0.7 percentage points higher than the previous month, but remains well below the Welsh Government\u2019s target of 65% of red calls receiving a response within the target time.<\/p>\n Throughout June there were 5,096 red calls to the ambulance service, the equivalent of 15.1% of all calls.<\/p>\n Emergency departments<\/strong><\/p>\n More than 96,000 people attended an emergency department in Wales during June \u2013 an average of 3,210 visits per day.<\/p>\n Of this figure, just under 15,200 patients were admitted from major emergency departments.<\/p>\n The Welsh Government target requires that 95% of patients should spend less than four hours in an emergency department, from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge.<\/p>\n But in June, 66.3% of patients spent less than four hours in an emergency department.<\/p>\n In North Wales, 58% of patients were seen within the four hour target time.<\/p>\n At the Wrexham Maelor Hospital, just 38.1% of patients spent less than the target time in an emergency department.<\/p>\n This was the second worst in Wales, with 31.3% of attendees Ysbyty Glan Clwyd being seen within four hours.<\/p>\n At the region\u2019s third major emergency department \u2013 Ysbyty Gwynedd \u2013 56.4% were seen within the target time.<\/p>\n Against the eight hour target, 67.1% were seen at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital and\u00a078.5% were seen within 12 hours.<\/p>\n Political response<\/strong><\/p>\n Plaid Cymru health spokesperson, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, said the NHS in Wales \u201cis in need of a fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing the longest waits rise yet again will be a matter of great disappointment to the people of Wales. Over 26 years in charge of our NHS, Labour has let Wales down,\u201d said Mabon.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter throwing hundreds of millions at tackling waiting lists, and failing, it\u2019s clear that Labour\u2019s time is up.<\/p>\n \u201cOur NHS is in crisis, and it needs a fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n James Evans MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care said: \u201cThe latest figures prove Labour\u2019s health strategy is failing and the so-called progress they celebrated recently was just a flash in the pan.<\/p>\n \u201cProgress is in reverse and it\u2019s clear that this Welsh Government has run out of ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one should be waiting over a year for treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said: \u201cToday\u2019s figures show that our focus on improving ambulance patient handover performance is working, with handover times in June the lowest since September 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cWith improvements in same-day emergency care and patient flow in place, significant progress is being made in most areas of Wales.<\/p>\n \u201cStaff across Wales work hard day in, day out, to provide the best possible care for patients and I want to thank them for their continued efforts and the improvements we are seeing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve recently set up a national, clinically-led taskforce to support these efforts and have been clear with health boards about our expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AmboJune.jpg\")
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