Nearly 15,400 Patients Waiting To Start Treatment In Wales

Figures released by the Welsh Government have revealed that 15,388 patients have waited more than 36 weeks to start treatment.

In February 2014 a total of 414,063 patients were waiting for the start of their treatment. Of these, 87.9% had been waiting less than 26 weeks and 96.3% had been waiting less than 36 weeks from the date the referral letter was received in the hospital.

The figures, which were released by the Welsh Government yesterday provide a breakdown of patients in Wales waiting to start their treatment.

Within the document it states that: “Referral to Treatment Time (RTT) is the period of time from referral by a GP or other medical practitioner to hospital for treatment in the NHS in Wales.

“A referral to treatment pathway covers the time waited from referral to hospital for treatment in the NHS in Wales and includes time spent waiting for any hospital appointments, tests, scans or other procedures that may be needed before being treated.”

The figures are released monthly by the Welsh Government and show an improvement from January 2014, where 16,109 patients in Wales waited more than 36 weeks for treatment.

A total of 364,004 patients also waited less than 26 weeks to start their treatment. However this is higher than January’s figures, where 357,719 patients waited less than 26 weeks to begin their treatment.

Overall 80,720 patients received treatment in February. This is down on the 89,999 who were treated in January.

The table below shows that Betsi Cadwaladr University had the highest number and percentage of patients who waited over 36 weeks to be treated last month. It also shows that 75.3% of patients waited less than 26 weeks to start treatment and 12.5% waiting between 26 and 36 weeks.

Earlier this week Wrexham.com reported on waiting times in the A&E Department in the Wrexham Maelor after a number of people contacted us to say they had been waiting up to eight hours to be seen.

Over the past couple of days there have been reports of ambulances queuing up outside A&E, with 10 ambulances counted during one evening.

On Tuesday morning Betsi Cadwaladr issued an apology via Twitter to all those who had been affected on Monday evening. The Health Board tweeted to say: “On top of planned admissions, Maelor had to find beds for 54 emergency medical cases yesterday. That’s two wards worth of emergencies in one day, so apologies to everyone affected by delays.”

A full breakdown of February’s waiting times for treatment can be found here.

What do you think about NHS waiting times in Wales? Do you think more could be done? Then why not take part in the debate on our forums…